After the trials of the last few years, we are finally moving away from the recession and heading for more prosperous times with nearly 30% of SMEs stating that they expect further growth in 2015. Key to their success, according to a recent TalkTalk survey, is how they interact with technology – faster broadband and greater connectivity being at the top of the list.

Here are our key IT trends for the year ahead:

1. According to some sources, 2015 could well be the time that SMEs start to demand more from their IT suppliers, with almost half complaining that they don’t get the best out of areas such as their broadband provision. That could lead to many small and medium size business moving towards outsourced IT support, heading for the companies who offer the full package that can facilitate their organic growth and development in addition to faster and more reliable internet speeds.
2. The Internet of Things where everything is connected to everything else is set to become more and more important for SMEs (potentially connecting us to some 26 billion devices by the year 2020 according to research company Gartner). This has come hand in hand with our continuing adoption of the cloud where we can access any device from anywhere in the world, something that provides SMEs with a greater number of options and the chance to work ever more productively.
3. The rise of predictive analytics and drilling deeper into consumer behaviour and responses to products is also one of the areas that many businesses, both big and small are going to need to come to grips with. We are increasingly operating in an online world which daily creates huge amounts of data that needs to be interpreted, analysed and utilised if businesses are going to maintain their competitive edge.
4. More businesses will also be moving to the cloud for their mission critical work, taking advantage of the growing number of IT consultancy firms that offer state-of-the-art desktop solutions including cloud based email and desktop platforms such as Microsoft Office 365 where employees can work on the move from any connected device.
5. With the desire to reduce costs in tandem with the connectivity provided by the Cloud, many small and medium size business ventures will begin to move their telephony towards hosted PBX systems in 2015. VoIP is fast becoming the more cost effective way to run a telephone system, not only for SMEs but for large organisations too, and more businesses will be looking to connect their smartphones and other devices that can be used whilst roaming away from the office.
6. And finally, the threat from cybercriminals will continue to grow and become more complex and SMEs will start to depend more and more on their hosted IT support in order to keep their systems and processes robust enough to repel any attacks. With more and more of us using our own smartphones and devices for business, the need to develop a comprehensive security strategy will be of prime importance for many businesses.

It has become all the more important for small and medium size businesses to partner themselves with a reliable IT support team that can provide all advice and updated information a company needs to survive in the modern age and navigate the maze of options and opportunities that will be available.

Whilst the world may be becoming more technologically advanced, businesses who find the IT consultancy to work in partnership with will have a major advantage over their industry competitors.

Source by Erika Chitty