CLOUD SERVICES SKY HIGH FOR SMEs

An increasing amount of SMEs are abandoning traditional desktop computers in favour of the cloud, according to a new study from the International Data Corporation, (IDC) as reported by smeinsider.com.

IT infrastructure spending has risen astronomically, with spending by public and private cloud services growing 27 per cent. In the whole of 2014, IT infrastructure spending reached $4.1bn, a 28 per cent increase on 2013.

IDC expects this market to reach a value of $10.8 billion by 2019, or 39 per cent of the total market expenditure, representing one of the areas of tremendous growth for the European infrastructure sector, compared to the expectation of a stagnant, if not declining, traditional market. 

These statistics also represent how British SMEs are using cloud software to help run their business. According to online accounting software company Xero, more and more small businesses are signing up to use its accounting app.

The number of SMEs using the accounting app has more than doubled, increasing to 83,000 firms this year, compared with 47,000 this time last year.

Gary Turner, managing director at Xero UK commented:

‘‘Xero’s record customer growth in the UK over the last 12 months reflects a growing preference among small businesses for innovative cloud products and the rejection of ageing, disconnected desktop software.’’

Source: smeinsider.com