US small business owners still cling to ‘office basics’, claims study ⁰

Small businesses still rely heavily on the traditional working environment, according to the 2016 Business Survey from office equipment maker Brother. The report says these businesses are open to adopting next-generation cloud based and mobile technology, but they’re also ‘holding on to’ what it calls office basics such as printers, scanners and faxes. Over half (58 percent) of small businesses’ daily work tasks still require a physical office presence and 91 percent of small business owners currently have a printer, scanner, copier or fax machine within their work space. The need for these devices is confirmed in the data showing 43 percent of this same group use a printer, on average, 10 or more times per day.  The online survey of 509 small business owners in the US claims that the attachment to traditional devices does not mean that firms aren’t adopting new tech, but rather that they are trying to ‘have the best of both worlds’.

According to the survey:

• Small businesses continue to migrate towards the cloud for scalability and cost savings; 21 percent of respondents plan to invest the largest portion of their IT budget in cloud-based file sync and share solutions.
• Many small business owners are accommodating the expanding mobile workforce; 28 percent of respondents said they would spend most of their IT budget on mobile devices for remote employees.
• Security remains to be of importance; 30 percent percent of business owners plan to spend the largest portion of their IT budget on network and data security technology.

“This year’s Brother Business Survey findings show small business owners still trust and rely on tried-and-true core business practices,” said John Wandishin, Vice President of Marketing, Business Machines Group at Brother International Corporation. “Clearly these technology-minded entrepreneurs are pursuing and implementing the best available solutions to grow and succeed. As a result, they are investing in reliability, as well as cost-effectiveness and quality, which demonstrates sound thinking and can make all the difference in their business success.”