Worldwide Small and Medium Business Markets

IDC's Worldwide Small and Medium Business Markets program provides an extensive overview of the business priorities, challenges, and technology ecosystems of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) across the globe. The program's survey work and the lead analyst’s experience and perspective from covering the SMB market for more than 14 years provide rich business and technology insights, identifying and guiding SMB success in today's rapidly changing business environment. Key to these segment insights are the use of IDC's advanced segmentation factors including by region, business and technology personas and challenges, investment priorities, and industry verticals.

IDC's Worldwide Small and Medium Business Markets program provides benchmarks and practical guidance on SMB business goals, objectives, and outcomes including acquiring new customers, controlling costs, and increasing operating productivity. This program provides an expert understanding of SMB adoption and prioritization of key technology categories including security, remote work capabilities, cloud adoption, business applications adoption, and forward-looking technologies such as automation and artificial intelligence (AI).

• Key SMB business and technology priorities segmented by SMB size, industry, and region
• SMB U.S. market profile update
• SMB cloud computing and software-as-a-service use/plans
• SMB use cases of emerging technologies
• Enterprise software and key business applications (CRM, ERP,HCM, and analytics)
• Ecommerce, including mobile optimization
• Purchase process (channel preferences, information sources, and top decision factors in technology acquisitions)
• Data on macroeconomic challenges, AI and automation, sustainability, and other current trends impacting SMBs

• How Do Year-Over-Year Revenue Changes Differ for SMBs by Industry?
• 2023 U.S. SMB Market Profile Update
• 2023 Worldwide Buyer Behavior Snapshot
• 2023 Worldwide SMB Market Profile Update: How Do SMBs Leverage No Code, and How Does Their Use of It Vary by Size?
• The SMB Recession Response: How Economic Challenges Are Impacting IT Attitudes and Spending at SMBs in Western Europe and the United States
• The SMB Recession Toolkit

In addition to the insight provided in this service, IDC may conduct research on specific topics or emerging market segments via research offerings that require additional IDC funding and client investment.

1. What advanced SMB attributes/demographics are key to better buyer personas when used with employee sizes and revenue?
2. What socioeconomic factors are impacting SMBs the most, and how are they reacting to these factors? How are changing SMB technology and business priorities driving changes in hardware, software, and services spending as well as in the deployment method?
3. How are channel preferences changing SMB technology sourcing preferences and the role of service providers, and how are SMBs researching technology investments?
4. How are SMBs relying on different support solutions, including full-time IT staff, to manage their diverse IT environments?
5. When does an SMB become big enough for a given solution, and how is that changing?

Advanced business resources: ERP, CRM, and sales force automation (SFA); notebook PCs, smartphones, and tablets as part of mobile worker enablement; desktop PC and workstation ownership and purchase plans; and critical current and planned internet/online promotion resources