Small businesses don't want to be mobile

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SMEs might be the backbone of the economy. But when it comes to IT, they appear reluctant to invest.

Tasks such as book-keeping and dealing with paperwork rank ahead of boosting productivity, creativity, or promoting collaboration and more flexible ways of working. Smaller firms also appear to buy IT, first and foremost, on price.

These are the findings of internal research, carried out for HP. According to the data, smaller companies still largely prefer desktop computers to laptops, and score features such as large screens, large hard drives and fast processors ahead of features such as wireless connectivity, and battery life, which apply more to laptops.

In some ways, this reflects a natural conservatism among smaller firms, as well as a hard-nosed attitude towards spending. One in five SMEs, for example, do not have a fixed IT budget, but buy the equipment either when they need it, or more probably, when they can afford it.

And it is still the case that in most segments of the market, although laptop computers have fallen in price, their desktop equivalents remain cheaper. The benefits of laptops tend to be "soft", such as improved staff retention through flexible working, or greater productivity from employees on the road.

The benefits of giving a new PC to the book keeper are more readily apparent: if you don't, they probably can't run the latest version of your accounting software.

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