TurboLinux defines the SME market as those companies with up to 500 employees. The Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy funded an update to these SME sizing numbers in 1995. The highlights of this update are represented in Table 2. Most, if not all of these requirements and limitations are very much particular to each individual organization. TurboLinux research has identified five of the top IT issues affecting all SME IT decisions.
Price is usually the first and foremost issue for SMEs when IT purchases are considered.
It is not uncommon in some very small SMEs for a technical resource to be tasked with numerous other duties. For example, a bookkeeper with a technical background may double as the company's IT support mechanism. The issue of few technical resources available for the IT tasks at hand is a major contributing factor in the decision-making process for a technology solution. Ease of use and support become critical factors for the decision makers. Ease of use and the value proposition for the price paid are the third top issues within the IT decision-making process.