SMBs Buy and Use Software Differently

Surprise, surprise! According to Forrester Research, an analyst firm, small businesses buy and use software differently than their larger brethren. More than 2,200 IT executives and technology decision-makers in North America and Europe were polled, and the findings show that:

• small businesses are more likely to purchase software than build their own
• they are wary of open source software because of security and support issues
• interest in SaaS is growing but total cost of ownership is a concern
• they are more optimistic than big businesses and will allocate a greater portion of their IT spend on software

These conclusions come from the recent Forrester Research report The State Of SMB Software: 2009 and data from Forrester’s Enterprise and SMB Software Survey “Enterprise Versus SMB: Who Influences Your Software Purchasing Decisions?” and “Software Budget Outlook And Preferred Purchasing Channels By Company Size: 2008 To 2009”. You can purchase the research at Forrester’s website or go to bMighty to read a summary. Do you agree with the findings? Let us know – we’re interested in what you think.