Too many tech insiders see the world as consumer versus enterprise technology. They're missing a key component of the market: small and midsize businesses. And their blinders are leading to some seriously misguided conclusions.

Fredric Paul, Contributor

December 11, 2009

2 Min Read

Page 2 of 2

OK, now here's the kicker.

Which vendors do you think "get" the needs of SMBs? According to a recent Compass Intelligence survey in Fortune, the Number 1 ranking tech vendor is... Microsoft! Here's the survey's top 10 tech vendors in terms of effectively serving small businesses online:

Microsoft AT&T Cisco HP IBM Dell Verizon Sprint Nextel Nortel Symantec

And this really does matter. Fortune quotes Compass Intelligence "estimates that U.S. small businesses -- companies with 20 to 100 employees -- will spend more than $230 billion on technology in 2009."

Also according to Fortune, Tim Curran, CEO of The Global Technology Distribution Council, a consortium of technology distributors, says enterprises "have cut back tech spending, and they're still hunkered down," while "SMBs in this instance seems to be a leading indicator of companies starting to invest."

Of course, technology pundits aren't the only ones wearing SMB blinders. Everyone from government agencies to Wall Streeters seem to make a habit of ignoring the very existence of small and midsize companies.

Be warned. In technology at least, forgetting about the vast impact of SMBs runs the risk of getting things profoundly wrong.

Don't Miss:
The bMighty Manifesto: Small Is The New Large Small Is The New Large: Microsoft Gets The bMighty Message "Consumerization" In bMighty

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