There's more than one way to get a handle on how small companies spend their tech dollars. Consulting firms such as AMI-Partners Inc. and IDC Inc. conduct massive surveys of decisionmakers, then slice and dice the results. Another view comes from those who actually provide technology to small business. All Bases Covered, based in Redwood City, Calif., is an outsourcing company that installs and maintains information technology in nearly 2,000 businesses nationwide. Lewis talked recently with Business Week Online Contributing Editor Alan Hall about how small-business technology spending is changing, what technologies small businesses require, and how to keep costs down.
Services is clearly the fastest-growing segment.
Small-business owners are putting the technology on the desks of more and more of their employees. Today, nearly all our small-business client's employees have PCs. Even two years ago, most of our clients would have had only a handful of PCs. Small businesses simply can not attract, train, and manage the types of resources that they will require. Very few small businesses should even contemplate hiring a full-time resource until they are 50 employees or greater.