Communications and Technology Industry Research

New York-based AMI-Partners revealed that nearly 3.5 million SMBs in the United States are currently using smart phones and 700,000 are using tablet PCs.

Also AMI forecasts that within the next year the number of SMBs owning these devices will increase significantly to 40 percent and 85 percent, respectively. This tremendous growth is due to the success of Apple’s (News - Alert) iPhone, iPad and other Android devices which have also spawned a greater demand for more specialized, business-focused mobile apps. AMI-Partners specialize in providing IT, Internet, telecommunications and business services strategy, venture capital, and actionable market intelligence.

In a release Prashanth Motupalli, Survey Research Analyst at AMI said, “The current generation of workers is never without their mobile devices. These workers already use mobile devices to email and browse the web. But they are now looking for more sophisticated business applications while not in the office. This opportunity means much more than spreadsheets and documents.”

As mobile apps are fueled by data present in the cloud it has direct correlation with more U.S. SMBs adopting cloud services to meet various business needs, starting with basic communication and encompassing advanced, analytics-based applications.

“Similarly early success within mobile apps was driven by communication applications such as email and IM. Future growth for mobile apps is expected to meet more sophisticated business needs. These applications have become ‘must haves’ for this generation of workers which is ‘always on,” Motupalli added.

U.S. SMBs are desirous to implement solutions that are easy to adopt which in turn will make productivity suites more popular. Also as the mobile needs of U.S. SMBs progresses more specialized mobile applications, like CRM and analytics, will gain importance, said AMI sources.

AMI’s 2011 U.S. SMB Cloud Playbook – Strategic and Tactical GTM Planning Guide offers a framework for architecting cloud-based services offerings. It also offers a perspective on cloud-related dynamics in the SMB space, including cloud-related needs among SMB segments; behavioral and usage characteristics and future adoption plans.

The report also highlights cloud and ICT spending, market opportunity and price sensitivity besides including service bundling preferences and demand uplift; vendor value propositions; offers/bundles and the purchase channel mix and capabilities, said analysts at AMI.

In October 2010, AMI-Partners, which studied the small and medium business spending in the U.S. on software-as-a-service, announced that it will increase significantly during the next five years which will overtake investments in on-premise software by a significant margin.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.