Our recent report, 'Facing up to the IT infrastructure challenge', highlighted that contrary to common perceptions UK SMEs are more confident in their ability to adopt the latest technologies. This was reflected by rising IT budgets and a commitment to meet and exceed employee IT demands.

However, this does not mean there are not some slight apprehensions regarding IT infrastructure - with many SMEs still voicing concerns around reliability, security and cost. While these concerns perhaps don’t contain too many surprises on the surface, there is a clear underlying shift in why SMEs have these doubts.

Our research demonstrated that there is increasing frustration with the inability of technology to meet the broader aims of the organisation. Over a third of respondents said their IT infrastructure is holding back growth. When asked about concerns for the business as a whole in 2014, 33% of respondents said generating enough orders to ensure survival remained the biggest fear, but 34% cited IT issues as the biggest concern. This may be because their infrastructure will not support business growth or because they feel a lack of innovation will hold the business back.

Clearly IT infrastructure issues are no longer seen as ‘niggles’, but as vitally important issues for the business at large. To our mind, this reflects the strategically important role that technology now plays within UK organisations. We have seen a shift in mindset amongst the companies we deal with whereby there is a far greater appreciation of what value IT can deliver to their business.

IT has gone from being a static cost-centre to a dynamic business enabler that must support the organisation at every stage of the sales cycle, empowering the business to grow and succeed. Here at Node4 we aim to help every one of our customers to maximise progress and growth.

‘Facing up to the IT infrastructure challenge’is available to download here.