1/2www.idgconnect.com/preview_document_new

Home > Blog Abstract

TweetTweet 0 0StumbleUpon

Posted by Company IDG Connect

Dan Swinhoe (Gloabl)- Do SMBs Need More Coffee, or Security?

According to AVG, 22% of SMBs spend more on coffee than they do on IT. 22%! That's a hell of a lot of companies

spending a hell of a lot more on coffee.

For an idea of how much, the maths goes something like this; according to Spiceworks, there are around 18

million SMBs worldwide, with an average annual IT budget of $152,000.

So:

$152,000 x 3,960,000 companies (22% of 18 million)

=$601,920,000,000 annual IT budget

=$1,649,095,890.41 daily IT budget.

While the report doesn't say how much more companies are spending on coffee, if we assume it's only a little b it

more, SMBs are still downing over $1 b illion worth of coffee a day.

While it may seem like a trivial fact, there is some importance to it. While companies are spending money on

caffeine, they aren't spending money on useful things, like security. And while people may think they need coffee,

their companies probably need better security. The study said that one in six SMBs had suffered a security breach

in 2011, and between the millions of lost man hours, lost revenue opportunities and replacement equipment, that's

and extra $22 million lost that could've been added to the coffee budget.

The problem looks like it's going to get worse. According to Symantec, attacks on SMBs are on the rise. Last year

around 18% of attacks were on companies with less than 250 employees, a figure which has doubled in the first

half of 2012. While companies with 2500+ employees have seen a drop in attacks, hackers may be using the lax

security of their smaller suppliers as a stepping stone to get to those b igger organizations, exploiting the weakest

point in the supply chain.

Mobility is popular among SMBs. iPads and other tab lets were one of the main drivers of non-caffeine spending

last year with 62% already deploying, or planning to deploy the devices around the enterprise. The BYOD trend

continues to grow, but security still remains a grey area. Users and IT departments often clash in deciding who is

actually responsib le for device security, and almost three quarters of SMBs do not agree that the use of mobile

phones in business may represent a threat to IT security.

Elsewhere, the cloud is a set to be a b ig source of spending in the coming months and years. 48% of SMBs

currently use the cloud, and that figure is expected to rise to 62% by the end of the year, global spending totaling

$40 b illion. Spending and adoption figures are expected to rise steeply in the coming years, reaching $100 b illion

by 2016. The lack of hardware costs is especially useful for SMBs with limited budgets, meaning more can be

spent on that all-important coffee supply.

Connect with us:

Search blog

September 2012

Editorial Calendar

Apple's iphone5 is definately a master piece. The

iphone's unibody design took as muchinnovation as designing a new phone fromscratch. The conncetivity...

Richart 09-14-2012

Kasey Cassells (Global) - Is the iPhone 5Worth the Wait?

The phone looks like a great smartphone to me.Unfortunately, there's not much else that they can

do to 'revolutionize' it...so for some old-time

users...

Andrey 09-14-2012

Kasey Cassells (Global) - Is the iPhone 5Worth the Wait?

View all comments

What you're Saying

IDG Connect Soundbite

#SouthAfrica: Is youth mistrust holding back the

#IT industry? http://t.co/h0V1bBpt

Global: Was #Apple's #iPhone 5 worth the wait?

http://t.co/h7tWKAak

Global: #Samsung already planning to sue #Apple

over iPhone 5? http://t.co/PRSlnEV2

Asia: How #IT boomed in #Korea

http://t.co/yW62ljD1

Follow idgconnect on Twitter

Partners Contributors

The Global Business Library

Start Searching Go

All White Papers Video Case Studies Join

White Papers Case Studies Video

Full Library About us Blog

ShareShare Like 0 Send

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

2/2www.idgconnect.com/preview_document_new

According to Spiceworks, the largest portion of actual IT budgets (40%) is allocated to hardware purchases, with

software (34%) and services (26%) following behind. Most of the hardware money goes on desktops and laptops,

while anti-virus and recovery top software choices.

Businesses often only realize the cost of cyber-attacks after experiencing one. SMB budgets vary massively all

over the world, and in some regions it's less than $10,000 a year, spending what little they have as and when they

need to with little planning for the future or possib le risks. The good news is budgets seem to be increasing

steadily year-on-year, and even if companies drank the world's most expensive coffee, at $80 a cup $1.6 b illion a

year equals 20,613,698 cups, so no one is going to go thirsty.

By Dan Swinhoe, Editorial Assistant, IDG Connect

Seoul Space

IDG ConnectMarketers

ILX Group

Gerdau SA

Afrinnovator

South African

LocalGovernment

Association

idgconnectlaw

idgconnect

(ISC)2

Monster

Reksoft

CSC

NetmagicSolutions

Smart Sky

Electronics

We45 Solutions

Business Daily

Websense

Afrinnovator

TechNode

Cibecs

Venafi

ILX Group

CAMM

ISACA

Brocade

Epicor Software

Gerdau SA

CIO East Africa

eDevelopment

Resource Centre

Popular Tags Categories

Cloud Computing

IT Infrastructure

Mobility Management

Mobile Phones

Regional Content

Technology

Data Security

IT skills

Social Media

Data Management

Business

Mobility

Security

Cloud Computing

Data

IT Skills

Internet

Other

Social Media

Trends

Copyright © 2012, IDG Connect, All rights reserved.

Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.

Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the IDG Connect Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

White Papers Case Studies Video

Full Library About us Blog

Connect with us:

CIO Computerworld CSO GamePro Games.net World Expo Infoworld ITworld JavaWorld

Linuxworld MacUser Macworld Network World PC World