AVG Technologies today released the results of a study conducted by independent research firm, Vanson Bourne, which shows a new picture of the SMB end user and MSP environment as it relates to the Internet of Things (IoT) trend. Overall, SMB customer demands are on the rise, and MSPs are looking to adapt.
Here’s a bit of information on the study. Vanson Bourne conducted 1770 interviews of both IT and Marketing decision makers from Austalia, Canada, Germany, the UK and the US in September 2014. All of the respondents were from companies with between 1-500 employees, with a split of 85% SMB customer respondents, and 15% MSP respondents.
The most interesting finding of the survey results related to the issue of high customer demand. Over half of MSP respondents (55%) are reporting that their SMB customers are asking for more IoT services, such as wearable tech, cloud services, and multi-device applications. 77% of these MSP respondents are taking this cue and are starting to add IoT services to their portfolios. Also, of those SMB customers who are currently using IoT services, 68% want their MSP to be more of a trusted advisor, who can offer them better explanations and suggestions for which services are a best fit.
This demand, as the study showed, is still driven by the bottom line. 57% of SMB customers feel that IoT technologies will increase their revenues. On the MSP side, this number is 67%. And both groups feel that IoT will be the emerging technology trend most likely to boost revenue in the coming years. But, as many of you are probably thinking, this IoT trend has its own rough edges for both SMB customers and MSPs.
The primary concern of most SMBs and MSPs is, of course, security. On the SMB customer side, 71% say that they will have to work harder to secure and protect company data with IoT services. MSPs are also feeling this crunch, as only 38% said that their organization has an integrated RMM platform capable of handling the IoT security concerns.
“The study shows clearly that as businesses grow to rely more and more on the Internet of Things and Cloud-based services to help generate revenue most MSPs are still some way short of being ready to help customers’ manage this,” said Mike Foreman, General Manager, SMB, AVG Technologies. “The research strongly indicates that MSPs need to significantly up their game and demonstrate enhanced levels of protection and control over their customers’ ever changing data and device needs.”
