The Impact of Convergence in Western European SMBs

This study examines the impact of convergence in the small and medium business market. The focus will remain on voice and data convergence as well as fixed-mobile convergence, understanding the appeal to SMBs, current offerings targeting the market segment, and the results and adoption trends observed so far.

In addition, and in order to better understand SMBs' awareness and adoption trends on voice and data convergence as well as on fixed-mobile convergence, IDC's Vertical Market Survey asked 1,282 SMBs about their usage of these emerging solutions. Results are divided by company size (20?49, 50?99, 100?249, 250?499 employees) in the top 5 Western European countries in the following vertical markets: banking; insurance and other finance; discrete manufacturing; process manufacturing; healthcare services; transport, telecommunications, media, and utilities; retail and wholesale; business services; education; and government.

"Attracted by the simplicity and lower costs, SMBs are closely following the benefits that convergence brings to the consumer market. In the voice and data convergence scenario, PC-based propositions such as Skype helped to raise awareness of IP and VoIP and to increase adoption in the SMB market. In the fixed-mobile scenario, BT's original offering to the consumer market, BT Fusion, was extended to reach SMBs. However, small and midsize firms are still not fully aware of the security risks they incurred when using consumer-like solutions in a business environment," said Laura Converso, senior research analyst with IDC's European Small and Medium Business service.