Misrelate

Almost 60 percent of the United Kingdom’s small to medium enterprises have accepted the fact that there may not be any return to growth this year, providing emphasis to the grim outlook towards the economy prevailing throughout the country.

Easynet Connect conducted a research on SME decision makers forming the core of the IT industry, which showed that out of the 256 businesses on which the study was conducted, 38 percent stated that their focus was on investment in the IT sector. The study revealed that the poor economic growth was having a positive impact on IT progress as firms try to increase their efficiency.

It hardly comes as a surprise that more and more businesses are relying on their cyberspace presence, because internet now plays a huge role in their business. 81 percent of the businesses involved in the study agreed, when questioned by Easynet Connect, that they wouldn’t survive even a day without the internet. 48 percent said that they would be struggling with business if the internet was off for even an hour, and a significant 14 percent said that they relied on the virtual medium so much that they would barely survive in its absence.

The importance of internet for businesses can be understood from the fact that almost 80 percent said that internet acted as a lifeline for them in the difficult economic times by making the recovery easier as compared to recessions in the past.

Easynet’s Managing Director voiced his opinion, saying that with downloading speeds of up to 100 Mbps, fibre broadband might be the most cost effective way for the SMEs (see best broadband provider for a comparison table).