The IT market focus has shifted from a primary focus on enterprise customers to be more inclusive of smaller customers as well. Many suppliers are eager to address the IT needs of the SMB market, which IDC defines as companies with up to 1,000 employees. Included in this segment is the lower midmarket (100-499 employees), an interesting subset of the broader SMB market as these customers are more likely to have already made relatively significant investments in IT, yet are only now realizing that many of the products and services that were once out of reach both financially and in complexity are now available to them as well.

The product and services opportunity for value-added resellers (VARs) in this segment is very healthy. IDC estimates that this segment will grow to $600 million in total IT-related spend globally by 2009. IDC research also indicates that midsize businesses are becoming more sophisticated in their deployment and need for IT as these companies now recognize the value that IT can provide to their companies.