CompTIA SMB Summit Focuses On VAR Opportunities In 2008 And Beyond

(Bonita Springs, FL) — VARs got a chance to learn more about selling to SMBs — specifically, managed services, security, and even document management opportunities at the 2007 CompTIA SMB Summit. Although the main theme of the event was the market opportunities provided by the SMB segment, the event took on a similar theme to that of Business Solutions — promoting crossing technologies.

CompTIA took the opportunity to release findings from a recent survey regarding the state of SMBs. The survey of 724 businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees found that almost half (45%) expect their businesses to grow by more than 10% in 2008, and 21% expect growth of better than 20% in that time frame.

When asked to identify which technologies they plan to invest in over the next 12 months, 29% said secured data backup, storage, and disaster recovery; 24% said IP (Internet Protocol) telephony; 19% said server virtualization and consolidation; 18% said Wi-Fi; and 13% said SANs (storage area networks).

"These are all solutions that allow organizations to get the most out of their technology infrastructure investments," said John Venator, president and CEO of CompTIA. "This is an important shift. Historically, SMBs tended to replace technology reactively when something went wrong. Now they are proactively looking for solutions that enable them to leverage their networks and boost productivity and efficiency."

— Chris Loringer
Storage & Security Technologies Editor