Business founders” attitudes about IT have a significant impact on their business, according to the 2013 Global SMB IT Confidence Index, which found that SMEs with higher IT Confidence scores are more successful in driving their venture forward.
Symantec surveyed some 2,500 SMEs across the globe to determine their attitude toward IT. Their SMB IT Confidence Index measures how confident they are in using IT to address strategic business goals.
One of the biggest drivers of high IT Confidence scores was the founder’s perspective. 74 per cent of top tiers those with highest IT Confidence scores – said their founder’s previous business experience has an influence on their IT philosophies, compared to 61 per cent of companies with low-ranking index scores.
In addition, 83 per cent of top-tier SMBs use IT as a strategic business enabler, compared to just 44 percent of bottom-tier SMBs. Top tiers are also more likely to invest in a high quality IT infrastructure and deploy advanced computing platforms, such as cloud and mobility, seeing innovative technologies as being worth the potential risk.
“There appears to be a positive correlation between protecting their [founders’] information assets and achieving their business goals,” said Brian Burch, vice president of global consumer and small business marketing at Symantec. If small businesses want to maximise their success, they need to embrace IT as a strategic tool with the potential to deliver a competitive advantage and really drive their business.
Some 81 per cent of top-tier SMBs said ?using computing strategically to drive our business forward was an effective way to increase market share. Additionally, these businesses have made information security a priority, with 78 per cent claiming they are somewhat or extremely secure. They suffer fewer cyberattacks and lower monetary losses, and in areas such as storage management, backup windows and disaster preparedness, the top tiers report much smaller impacts from IT complexity.
