SMB cloud computing adoption nears 50 per cent

Almost 50 per cent of small and medium businesses (SMBs) are using cloud computing, with even more adopting virtualisation technologies.

This was the finding of the latest ‘State of SMB IT’ study from social business network company Spiceworks. It surveyed over 1,200 IT professionals working at firms with less than 1,000 employees and discovered 46 per cent were using cloud services – up from 28 per cent in the first half of this year…

Figures for virtualisation were even higher, with 61 per cent saying they had implemented the technology – up from 56 per cent earlier in 2011.

The survey showed budgets were on the up as well, with a rise of nine per cent compared to the first six months of the year. This equated to an average annual SMB IT budget of $143,000.

The free-up for cash flow led to 31 per cent of firms claiming they would be hiring IT staff in the near future.

“Despite market fluctuations, 2011 proved to be a great year for disruptive technologies as SMBs increasingly adopted tablet computers, cloud services and virtualisation technology,” said Jay Hallberg, co-founder and vice president of marketing for Spiceworks.

“The results of our most recent survey show SMBs making similar strategic technology investments with expanded budgets – pointing to a stronger market for IT products and services among small and mid-sized businesses in 2012.”

Cloud firms have picked up on the enthusiasm in the SMB space with the likes of Citrix and VMware both launching new products aimed at the market in the last month.