48% of SMBs Involve Partners in Tech Buying Decisions, Survey Finds
Zomentum Commissioned Study Looks Inside the SMB SaaS Buying Process
Partners play a vital role in the technology buying cycle for small and medium businesses (SMBs), with nearly half (48 percent) of SMBs involving their technology consultants and service providers when assessing SaaS applications, and 40 percent involving them in the final purchasing decision.
This insight is one of many in a new report, “Inside the SMB SaaS Technology Buying Process,” from SMB marketing and research firm Bredin and commissioned by Zomentum, creators of the first intelligent Revenue Platform built for the Partner Ecosystem.
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The new report is co-sponsored by Partnership Leaders, the industry association for partnership, channel, alliances and business development leaders. Findings are being released ahead of the Partnership Leaders’ Catalyst Conference in Miami Beach, August 24th and 25th
“SMBs increasingly look for solution providers that can demonstrate IT expertise and serve as a strategic guide to business success. With partners, SMBs start to receive the benefits that are so important to them from day one,” the report notes. The report further clarifies these benefits, which include:
- specialized knowledge in the field
- product options and comparisons for best fit
- breaking down complex technical jargon
- deployment and management
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The survey, which polled 350 IT decision-makers at small and medium businesses (SMBs) around the world, also found:
- 66 percent view SaaS technology as essential to business success and plan to adopt or develop it aggressively.
- More than 50 percent plan to increase technology spending in 2023, with only 6 percent planning to cut budgets.
- 75 percent are highly satisfied with the business contributions of cloud applications, particularly for enabling remote work during the pandemic.
- 66 percent of SMBs plan to shift critical workloads from on-premises systems to the cloud in the next six months.
- The most critical factors SMBs look for when assessing new applications are security (70 percent), proven technology (61 percent) and tailoring for their industry (49 percent).
- 40 percent of SMBs said they would buy SaaS solutions through a partner.
“The results of the Zomentum SaaS study show that creating alliances with partners is highly advantageous for SaaS vendors selling to SMBs,” said Zomentum CEO Shruti Ghatge. “A strong vendor-channel partnership creates the right balance of proven technology, support, and security that SMBs are looking for in their SaaS infrastructure.”
