smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

A lack of resources is preventing small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the UK from adopting new technologies such as tablets and cloud computing, research finds.

According to the Intel Business Index, insufficient financial and human resources prevents almost half (46.3 per cent) of IT decision makers from adopting new technologies. More than a third (36.4 per cent) of SMEs don’t plan to buy any new laptops, desktop PCs, tablets or smartphones in the next 12 months.

While the adoption of new technologies such as tablets for work purposes is on the rise, with 17.4 per cent of IT decision makers planning to buy/lease an iPad or another tablet for use for work purposes in the next year, legacy technologies still play an important role for many companies.

A fax machine is used daily by 37.7 per cent of IT decision makers and 40.5 per cent of IT users, according to the study of more than 3,000 companies.

Graham Palmer, managing director of Intel UK says, ‘It’s clear that as SMEs tighten their purse strings, buying new technologies falls to the bottom of the list of priorities. Yet, it’s important that IT decision makers weigh the advantages, such as the increased efficiency and flexibility delivered by mobile devices, against the cost. In many sectors, such as the creative industries and retail, using outdated legacy technologies could even result in the loss of your competitive advantage.’

The index shows that despite the perceived popularity of tablets, they are currently used for work purposes by just 1.4 per cent of IT users. In contrast, a laptop is used by 36.4 per cent, and a smartphone by 16.2 per cent of IT users.

There are currently no comments on this article