Techaisle Blog

The cybersecurity landscape is undergoing a significant shift, driven by a surge in spending across all business segments. According to Techaisle SMB and Midmarket Security Adoption Trends research, the combined IT security spending (excluding managed security services) for global SMBs and Midmarket companies is projected to reach a staggering US$90 billion in 2024, reflecting a healthy 9.4% increase from 2023. This data paints a clear picture: businesses of all sizes are prioritizing cybersecurity and investing heavily in defense mechanisms.

Interestingly, the growth in spending is not uniform across the board. The most significant increases are anticipated from high-growth, highly innovative companies. A striking 21% of high-growth SMBs and 26% of high-growth midmarket firms are expected to bolster their IT security budgets by at least 15% in 2024. These figures underscore these companies' unique challenges and the need for tailored cybersecurity strategies. Very innovative businesses are also demonstrating a strong commitment to security, with 18% of SMBs and 21% of midmarket companies in this category planning to increase their spending by 12% compared to the previous year.

At the core of an SMB's resilience lies cyber resilience, the nexus that links cybersecurity, business continuity, and overall preparedness. It's not just about defense; it's about bouncing back from any crisis, whether a cyberattack, natural disaster, or economic downturn. Cyber resilience ensures operations continue smoothly even in turbulent times by encompassing prevention, response, and recovery. This comprehensive approach not only ensures business continuity and protects sensitive data but also plays a pivotal role in fostering customer trust. Techaisle survey data reveals that 35% of SMBs and 46% of upper midmarket firms view the shift from cybersecurity to cyber resiliency as not just important but crucial.

Focused on growth and committed to new solutions that expand business horizons – the SMB market is on the brink of a multi-year growth trajectory.

They are here - Techaisle's annual SMB, Core Midmarket and Upper Midmarket Top 10 IT Priorities, IT Challenges, and Business Issues infographics, 13th year of Techaisle tracking at a WW level, and is sought after by IT vendors, channel partners, and media. Techaisle surveyed nearly 5000 SMBs and Midmarket firms, quota sampled to ensure adequate coverage of four small businesses (1-9, 10-19, 20-49, and 50-99 employees), three core midmarket (100-249, 250-499, and 500-999 employees) and two upper midmarket (1000-2499, 2500-4999) segments. As a result, the data represents a robust and reliable sampling of the market segment for IT products and services.

Techaisle surveys thousands of small and midsized businesses (SMBs) to understand technology imperatives and directions. The annual survey establishes context by asking respondents to identify their top business goals, technology priorities, and IT challenges for the upcoming year.

Redefining the art of the possible

The SMB market is a study in contrasts: the tension between boundless aspiration and a constrained reality. However, data shows that a market that has mastered the cloud and is excited by AI will dedicate itself to growth in 2024.

Techaisle’s research of 2150 SMB, core midmarket, and upper midmarket firms reveals ten key cloud trends. The importance of cloud cost optimization, automation, and orchestration cannot be understated. Techaisle’s research of 2150 SMB, core midmarket, and upper midmarket firms reveals ten key cloud trends. The importance of cloud cost optimization, automation, and orchestration cannot be understated. Techaisle survey data shows that cloud cost optimization has moved from 2nd priority to 1st in cloud initiatives for 59% of SMBs and 55% of upper midmarket firms. In addition, it is the top consulting services priority for 100% of firms.

The explosion in cloud use has led to considerable increases in the extent of automation within SMBs and midmarket firms. SMBs are absorbing cloud systems at a very rapid rate: many core infrastructure requirements, systems of record, and systems of engagement either are or soon will be cloud-based, and the cloud is paving the way for new automation in these areas, and in systems of insight (analytics) within SMBs.

They are here - Techaisle's annual SMB and Midmarket Top 10 IT Priorities, IT Challenges, and Business Issues infographics, 13th year of Techaisle tracking at a WW level, and is sought after by IT vendors, channel partners, and media. Techaisle surveyed over 5000 SMBs, quota sampled to ensure adequate coverage of four small businesses (1-9, 10-19, 20-49, and 50-99 employees), three midmarket (100-249, 250-499, and 500-999 employees) and two upper midmarket (1000-2499, 2500-4999) segments. As a result, the data represents a robust and reliable sampling of the market segment for IT products and services.

Significant changes in 2023 as compared to 2022 are:

• Driving innovation and managing uncertainty, absent in 2022, are among the top 10 business issues in 2023.
• Deploying customer experience solutions as an IT priority has moved to 4th place as compared to 9th in 2022. CCaaS is considered an integral component of customer experience solutions.
• Implementing employee experience platforms and 5G-enabled devices/applications are new IT priorities within the top 10 list. UCaaS is one of the technology areas being investigated by SMBs.
• Adopting collaboration technology solutions has move down from 3rd rank to 8th and hybrid workplace solutions as a priority ranks 10th as compared to 5th in 2022
• Budget constraint has been a constant IT challenge fixture for over a decade. For 2023, it has been replaced by cloud cost management. Cloud optimization and cost management are the top IT challenges for SMBs, Core-Midmarket, and Upper Midmarket firms.
• Preventing Cyberattacks, adopting Zero Trust, and moving to as-a-service technology acquisition for new IT challenges are among the top five.
• Sustainability is increasingly becoming relevant and essential for the SMB segment, and there is no surprise that it is among the top challenges.
• Integration, business process automation is now non-optional and a challenge, which is worsened because of the inability to find trained employees