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A report from market research analyst and consulting company Techaisle found that small to midsize businesses will spend $3.6 billion in 2009 on remote managed services, which is up 9.2 percent from 2008. Overall SMB managed services spending will grow by 8.8 percent in 2009 to $14.3 billion, and SMBs will account for nearly half of all managed services spent by businesses, the report also found.
The report said in 2010 SMBs are likely to spend $15.7 billion on managed services, exhibiting a growth rate of 9.6 percent. More than 36 percent of managed services spending by SMBs in 2009 will be made by companies with 10 to 49 employees, the report predicted, making it the most lucrative target segment but also the most difficult to reach. The study that includes market sizing covers remote and on-site/remote managed services and includes subsegments of PC management, server/network management, security, network storage and backup/recovery managed services. E-mail and Web hosting, collaboration and software as a service (SAAS) services are excluded from managed services and are sized separately, Techaisle noted.
“SMBs are now looking beyond infrastructure investments as their respective countries slowly emerge from the global downturn. With continuing education by vendors and channels, SMBs have begun embracing managed services with cautious optimism,” said Techaisle CEO and Vice President of Research Anurag Agrawal. “Not surprisingly, SMB managed services spend represents a 46 percent share of the total managed services spend of $31.1 billion by businesses that include large enterprises with 1000+ employees.”
Midmarket network and server managed services account for the highest level of spending at $3.5 billion, while PC managed services is expected to reach $2.7 billion in 2009. The study that includes extensive market sizing based on primary research shows that emerging markets will have the highest growth rate at 13.7 percent, while the established markets (mature markets) are projected to grow by 8.4 percent. The report projected regional shares (North America leads with 36 percent) change only if remote managed services is considered, and the share of emerging markets’ spend will grow from 21 percent in 2008 to over 24 percent in 2010.
However, the Asia/Pacific region, excluding Japan, is expected to grow by 12.2 percent, followed by United States at 8.5 percent. The EMEA (including Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa) region will grow by 6.5 percent in 2009 and jump to 8.1 percent in 2010, the report said.
“Tough economic times bring investment decisions into sharp focus, and the result is typically lower investment levels,” said Abhijeet Rane of Techaisle. “It also sharpens medium- and longer-term priorities that lead to smart investments, and managed services is certainly in the radar.”