Hosted services linked to SME revenue growth

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 04 February 2010 08:46

IT Industry - Development

New research suggests revenue growth goes hand-in-hand with the adoption of hosted services by SMEs.

Research conducted for Microsoft shows a correlation between the use of cloud or hosted services by SMEs and their financial performance.

More than 40 percent of the respondents that use hosted or cloud technology reported revenue rises of 30 percent or more compared with 90 percent of respondents not using hosted technology that saw decreases in revenue.

But correlation does not show causality. Does the use of hosted technology lead to revenue growth, or does revenue growth lead SMEs to adopt hosted services? It's possible to make a case for either.

You might argue a business that is enjoying rapid growth is more likely to adopt one or more hosted services as that will make it easier and cheaper to bring on each new employee.

Alternatively, if hosted services really do reduce costs, adopting them would free up funds for investment in other areas that generate additional revenue.

So what hosted services are SMEs using? Find out on page 2.