Western European SMB Priorities and IT Solution Adoption Plans for 2007
IDC 2006 Survey

Western European SMB Priorities and IT Solution Adoption Plans for 2007 IDC 2006 Survey

This study presents the results of IDC's European Vertical Market survey, carried out in June and July 2006 in the top 5 Western European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K.) among 1,262 SMBs with between 20 and 499 employees.

The survey analyzes SMBs' IT spending directions, solution priorities, level of adoption of solutions (packaged software, in-house developments, external developments) and future investment plans. Different solution areas, such as ERP, CRM, industry-specific applications, supply chain applications, collaborative tools, content/document management and many others are analyzed by company size, country, and vertical market. Results are given for the top 5 Western European countries in the following vertical markets: banking; insurance and other finance; discrete manufacturing; process manufacturing; healthcare services; transport, telecommunications, media, and utilities; retail and wholesale; business services; education; and government.

"SMBs will focus their 2007 investments on ERP, industry-specific applications and CRM, adding new modules or undergoing custom functional modifications. The implementation of new solutions to replace old ones is more evident in the ERP area, especially among U.K. SMBs," said Nina Bonagura, a senior research analyst with IDC's European Vertical markets and SMB research.

• IDC Opinion
• In This Study
  • Methodology
    • Conceptual Framework
    • Sample Design
      • Sampling Unit: IDC's Economic Entity
      • Sample Quotas
      • Table: Vertical Market Quotas
      • Table: Company Size Quotas
      • Sample Frame and Sampling Method
      • Table: Number of Completes by Country
    • Respondents
    • Interviews
    • Questionnaires
    • Interview Schedule
    • Confidence Intervals
    • Weighting
    • Analysis of the Data
  • Definitions
    • Vertical Markets
    • Solution Areas
  • Executive Summary
• Situation Overview
  • Current SMB Solution Adoption
  • Figure: Western European SMBs, Adoption of IT Solutions
  • Table: Western Europe SMBs, Current Status of ERP Solutions by Company Size, Country and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
  • Table: Western Europe SMBs, Current Status of CRM Solutions by Company Size, Country and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
  • Table: Western Europe SMBs, Current Status of Industry-Specific Solutions by Company Size, Country, and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
  • Table: Western Europe SMBs, Current Status of Supply Chain Solutions by Company Size, Country and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
  • Table: Western Europe SMBs, Current Status of Collaborative Solutions by Company Size, Country and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
  • Table: Western Europe SMBs, Current Status of BPM and Analytics by Company Size, Country and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
  • Table: Western Europe SMBs, Current Status of Datawarehouse and Datamart Solutions by Company Size, Country and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
  • Table: Western Europe SMBs, Current Status of Content Management/Document Management Solutions by Company Size, Country and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
• Future Outlook
  • SMB IT Solution Priorities
  • Table: Western Europe SMBs, IT Solution Priorities by Company Size, Country and Vertical Market (scale 1-5)
  • SMBs' Future Adoption Plans
  • Figure: Western European SMBs, % of Companies Planning Investments in IT Solutions
    • ERP — new opportunities in manufacturing
    • CRM — short-term opportunities directly correlated to the installed base
    • Industry-specific applications — opportunities for vendors targeting the finance and healthcare SMB market
    • Supply chain — still considered as a low strategic solution across most vertical markets
    • Collaborative — banking and transport/telecom/media/utilities stand out
    • BPM and analytics — larger SMBs expected to represent the most dynamic market with significant differences at a vertical market level
    • Datawarehouse and datamart — growing opportunities in discrete manufacturing
    • Content and Document Management — healthcare, education, and banking driving demand
    • Table: Western Europe SMBs, Status of ERP Solutions in Next 12 Months by Company Size, Country, and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
    • Table: Western Europe SMBs, Status of CRM Solutions in Next 12 Months by Company Size, Country, and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
    • Table: Western Europe SMBs, Status of Industry Specific Solutions in Next 12 Months by Company Size, Country, and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
    • Table: Western Europe SMBs, Status of Supply Chain in Next 12 Months by Company Size, Country, and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
    • Table: Western Europe SMBs, Status of Collaborative Technologies in Next 12 Months by Company Size, Country, and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
    • Table: Western Europe SMBs, Status of BPM and Analytics in Next 12 Months by Company Size, Country, and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
    • Table: Western Europe SMBs, Status of Datawarehouse and Datamart Solutions in Next 12 Months by Company Size, Country, and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
    • Table: Western Europe SMBs, Status of Content Management/Document Management in Next 12 Months by Company Size, Country, and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
  • SMB Approach to Software as a Service
  • Table: Western Europe SMBs Considering to Rent Software as a Service for Replacement or to Supplement Functionality of Existing ERP Solutions - by Company Size, Country, and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
  • Table: Western Europe SMBs Considering to Rent Software as a Service for Replacement or to Supplement Functionality of Existing CRM Solutions - by Company Size, Country, and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
  • Table: Western Europe SMBs Considering to Rent Software as a Service for Replacement or to Supplement Functionality of Existing Industry-Specific Solutions - by Company Size, Country, and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
  • Table: Western Europe SMBs Considering to Rent Software as a Service for Replacement or to Supplement Functionality of Existing Supply Chain Solutions - by Company Size, Country, and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
  • Table: Western Europe SMBs Considering to Rent Software as a Service for Replacement or to Supplement Functionality of Existing Collaborative Solutions - by Company Size, Country, and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
  • Table: Western Europe SMBs Considering to Rent Software as a Service for Replacement or to Supplement Functionality of Existing BPM and Analytics Solutions - by Company Size, Country, and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
  • Table: Western Europe SMBs Considering to Rent Software as a Service for Replacement or to Supplement Functionality of Existing Datawarehouse/Datamart Solutions - by Company Size, Country, and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
  • Table: Western Europe SMBs Considering to Rent Software as a Service for Replacement or to Supplement Functionality of Existing Content Management/Document Management Solutions - by Company Size, Country, and Vertical Market (% of Companies)
• Essential Guidance
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  • Related Research
  • Synopsis