The British Chambers of Commerce: Information & Communication Technology

Using IT: Small Firms and Technology

A major report by the British Chambers of Commerce into SME attitudes towards information and communications technology

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Over half of all businesses that responded believe that e-commerce has already had some impact on their business; but 94% believe e-commerce will have a major, or some impact on them in the future.

A responsibility for ICT at board level is not just the preserve of larger companies. 51 % of 1-9 employee companies and 69 % of 200 + employee companies have a board member with ICT responsibility.

In many larger businesses there is a substantial proportion of staff who have had no ICT training at all over the past two years. 40 % of businesses with 1-9 employees report providing no ICT training in the last two years.

Around half of all businesses surveyed have provided ICT training to only 25 % of their workforce. Micro businesses employing fewer than 10 people, if they train at all, are more likely to have provided ICT training to all their employees.

Small businesses are just as likely as larger firms to recognise that ICT investment saves time and money, yet a far higher proportion plan no new investment because they think their facilities are adequate.

60 % of businesses regardless of size offer access to work-related e-mails at home. Businesses of all sizes believe that the use of email has improved the efficiency of their company overall.

When asked why they do not currently use broadband 27 % of businesses say it is due to lack of availability and 38 % say it is too expensive.

Most businesses now have a website, often created in the last year. A small percentage of businesses of every size category spent over £100,000 on their website.

About a third of firms have either not updated their website since it was set up, or have not done so in the last year. Slightly over half of larger businesses analyse their web logs regularly in marked contrast to smaller businesses. Fewer than half of all businesses responding to the survey report have seen an increase in sales leads from their websites.

61 % of businesses report they have experienced one or more computer related crimes in the last year. 93% of firms experienced a virus attack in the last year. Despite this only 37% of firms using ICT have a policy of reporting computer related crime to the police.

67 % of firms are concerned about the security aspects of doing business electronically. However only 49% of micro businesses carry out an assessment of vulnerability compared to 93% of large firms.