Economic slump and web services give netbooks big role in business

Stan Beer
Monday, 02 February 2009 11:31

IT Industry - Market

When the Eee PC burst on the scene many of us were ready to dismiss it as a cheap consumer toy which would never be suitable for business. No longer. In the cash strapped era of SaaS and the Cloud, netbooks may be just the paradigm shift that enterprises need.

In November 2008, ABI Research carried out a survey of more than 1000 adult consumers in the US, aimed at identifying their attitudes to netbooks and mobile Internet devices (MIDs).

Among many other results, the research found that only 11% would use a netbook as their primary computer, while a massive 79% view netbooks as a secondary device to be used in addition to a laptop or desktop computer.

This is true. Most people who own a netbook, including yours truly, also own a "real" computer. However, having travelled with a netbook, a high proportion of those same netbook owners would never again bother to take a "real" computer on the road with them again.

In the current economic malaise enterprises large and small can no longer afford the IT largesse  of yesteryear. Energy sucking, massively over engineered desktop computers, high powered premium priced notebooks with a life span of three years are wasteful luxuries businesses can no longer afford.

Yet businesses still need IT as much as ever and they're still spending money. Companies like IBM, SAP, Software AG, which focus primarily on the enterprise space, produced respectable financial results over the past year. However, they all warn that 2009 is expected to be a challenge.

To put it simply, businesses are looking to cut costs to ensure their survival. Two of the biggest costs to business are human resources and IT infrastructure.

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