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ROI Redefined: Compliance, Regulation and Competitive Pressures Drive SMB Technology Purchases
ATLANTA - July 27, 2005 — While globalization of the IT landscape has forced companies of every size to have sophisticated solutions in place for automating processes and integrating applications, small- to medium-sized businesses (SMB) are considering factors beyond budget, increased productivity and profits for their future technology purchases. As Atlanta-based software provider FileVision sees it, SMBs have a new eye for ROI. They are now shopping for affordable, scalable solutions that fit closely to their business needs and help them address issues such as compliance, regulation and competitive customer service. To help them with these issues, SMBs need a solution that turns data into information, manages the relationships within the data and seamlessly enhances an organization’s established business processes. “Whether a customer service issue arises or a SMB needs to comply with an industry or company regulation, information is the key component that drives all their business processes. The more information they have, the more successful they will be,” said Laurie Shufeldt, vice president of strategic business development, FileVision. “The technology ROI small businesses look for is a solution that will improve a process by quickly monitoring and managing information. In addition to increasing productivity, an ideal solution for the SMB market is affordably priced and delivers a return-on-investment on a business’ accountability by helping it to remain compliant with both customers and regulations.” The market for technology vendors and resellers that can deliver to SMB needs is significant. According to Gartner, Inc., the leading provider of research and analysis on the global information technology industry, the SMB market is currently worth $400 billion worldwide. Forty-five percent of that figure will be spent in North America 1. SMBs face compliance issues on several levels, including customer pressures, security threats and industry, company and/or government regulations. Many SMB owners start businesses with plans to expand and with an exit strategy to sell the business once it becomes profitable. A recent study commissioned by American Express revealed that 85 percent of small businesses are planning for growth opportunities over the next six months, which is a significant increase over figures from the last two years. Shufeldt continued, “In order to make their companies an attractive prospect, SMBs must prove to potential buyers that they are regulated, monitored and accountable for their practices, much like larger corporations. In order to comply, they need a technology system that makes internal audits and information monitoring affordable, timely and efficient.” Although compliance standards for SMBs are similar to those for corporations, SMBs function in an entirely different way and also have a variety of issues to face that corporations do not. Depending on the industry, each organization’s process is determined by the niche customer group it targets. SMBs also have smaller budgets. For those reasons, SMB technology solutions must be affordable and able to be used by a variety of industries and scalable to each organization’s specific size, needs and requirements. Many corporate giants are plagued with customer service problems resulting from mergers and company takeovers. “SMBs see this trend as an opportunity to gain a competitive edge, and look to offer personalized customer service that will help them cultivate a satisfied and loyal customer base,” said Shufeldt. In order to deliver a high level of customer service, SMBs need a solution that gives them access to information immediately and automates processes that once required costly employee time and actions. A technology providing that capability allows SMBs to respond to customers’ needs quickly and to also spend more time building customer relationships. ### Media Contact: About FileVision |
