Survey Commissioned by Web Hosting Provider 1&1 Internet Suggests Inflexible IT Services Cost Millions
A survey commissioned by web hosting provider 1&1 Internet suggests inflexible options for IT services such as email, Internet, and back-up services are costing British companies millions of pounds. The survey considered information from more than 756 small and medium sized companies and concluded that most companies are paying for IT services based on their “maximum requirements” rather than actual needs. Most company’s IT costs do not usually reflect reduced usage during seasonally quieter periods, while company owners suggest that usage often goes down by 12% or more during quieter periods. This could mean a saving of £432 ($685) annually if this reduced usage was reflected in their costs.
The survey said that the average company spends £3,597 ($5,700) a year on IT services, a cost which is often not proportionate to needs. It goes on to suggest that 34% of companies pay the same annual fee for IT services regardless of usage. This figure increases to 40% of companies with less than 10 employees, while only 11% of all companies surveyed suggested what they paid reflected business usage. Only 17% have investigated whether IT services costs could be reduced to reflect reduced usage during quieter periods, while 28% would like to see their IT services costs reflect seasonal usage reductions.
Based on their report, 1&1 recommends that companies consider scalable ‘cloud-based’ IT services which reflect actual usage in costs. Research by the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) – a body that gives independent advice on Cloud-based services applications – suggests a rapid increase in the Cloud services market in the UK, highlighting a 27% increase in “first time users” over the last year and a half. CIF believes in excess of 75% of UK companies will use at least one cloud-based service by the end of 2013, while 80% of current Cloud services users will spend more on such services during the same period.
“For a small business owner, Cloud server packages offer the possibility to not only reduce total costs but also manage their IT needs just as responsively and efficiently as much larger corporations”, said 1&1 Internet’s CEO Oliver Mauss.
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