Sweating the small stuff is big problem for SMEs

Nearly forty per cent of IT managers have said that regular IT problems were their biggest headaches, according to a new survey.

The research, carried out by Vanson Bourne, found that 37 per cent of the 200 IT managers in SMEs surveyed put day-to-day tasks as the main drain on their time, while 32 per cent identified IT security as major problem.

The survey found that security was more of a concern for smaller businesses than larger ones. The research found that 35 per cent firms with 50 or less employees cited security as a problem, while 27 per cent of firms with 50 to 250 employees said IT security was an issue for them.

Mark MacGregor, chief executive of IT services company Connect, which commissioned the survey, said that while much debate in IT centres on "big ticket" items, such as web 2.0 or open source, it is the smaller problems that still trouble smaller companies.

"While we're certainly not dismissing those concepts, the reality is that for the entrepreneurs and owner-managers that drive much of the innovation and growth in our economy, the issues are really much simpler," he said. "They just want robust, cost-effective IT systems that actually work. One of the challenges we need to address as an industry is how we can deliver more of that type of IT to this vital part of UK plc."

The survey also found that 30 per cent cited a lack of understanding by staff in use of IT as one of their two biggest IT headaches. While only 20 per cent of smaller (less than 50 employees) companies saw this as a problem, the comparable figure for companies with 51-250 employees was 42 per cent.

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