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Small business mobile telecoms survey

Metro Research Summary Report

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Contents

Research Introduction 3

The things you need to know... 4

Research Sample 5

Summary Findings 6-19

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Research Introduction

Metro Research is a market research companyconsultancy with a specialist interest in B2B telecomsand technology research

We ran this ‘living business’ survey to see whatsmall companies (under 10 employees) think aboutsome of the key aspects of mobile technology

We focused on businesses of this size as theyrepresent over 1 million UK enterprises, and are oftenunder-served by technology suppliers

The survey report is based on the views of 95decision makers for small businesses around the UK. Webelieve it gives some helpful insights into how thesebusinesses think.

We hope this report sheds some light and givesyou some valuable insight into technology, and how theneeds of the small businesses of today are changing.

If you would like to discuss the findings further,please get in touch

Steve Morantz

Managing Director

Metro Research Ltd

+44 788 756 6462

+44 870 241 2401

smorantz@metroresearch.com

Note that this is a small survey so findings are indicative;some bases sizes are small

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13 things you need to know...

4

... If you are a technology provider to small businesses

1. 9 out of 10 small businesses haveemployees who work outside the officeat least once a month.

2. Half of small businesses haveemployees who need remote access tocompany files.

3. Three quarters use mobile phones-60% of which were smartphones.

4. However, only 25% of smallbusinesses said they were consideringpurchasing, or using more smartphonesin the next 12 months.

5. 1 in 7 small businesses areconsidering buying tablet PCs within thenext 6 months.

6. 4 out of 5 small businesses saythey are highly focused on finding newways to maximise efficiency and usetechnology to do so.

7. Nearly half of small businesses usemobile apps- the most commonly usedtypes were navigation, business apps,news and travel updates.

8. Over 50% of app users downloadapps from their smartphone’s app shop,

with 3 out of 5 users downloading mostapps from there.

9. Half of app users have paid forapps, with 3 out of 5 paying between £1and £3 for them.

10. The top three areas in which smallbusinesses thought apps could make lifeeasier for them were: remote access tocompany files, time management andnavigation.

11. 3 out of 5 small businesses staterecommendations from friends orfamily were the most trusted sources ofinformation about apps, withtechnology blogs second, whilstoutdoor, newspaper and magazineadverts were least trusted.

12. The iPhone made up half ofsmartphones being used, the iPad wasthe main tablet PC being looking at.

13. Apple appears to be seen as thetechnology company that mostunderstands the needs of smallbusinesses. Note this question wasasked ‘in general’, not just related tomobile technology, However, no clearleader emerges.

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Research Sample

35%37%

8%

20%

1 2-4 5 5+

Number of Employees

88%

2%5% 4%

Respondent Roles

Owner / managing director

IT Specialist

Other manager, not IT specialist

Other

5

Just over one third of companieswho responded to our survey invitationwere considered sole traders.

Everyone who responded was adecision maker in their company and anoverall majority of survey respondents werethe owner of the company, or the M.D.

OTHER SERVICE, 32%

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION,

12%PROFESSIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND

TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES, 11%WHOLESALE AND

RETAIL TRADE; REPAIR OF MOTOR VEHICLES AND MOTORCYCLES,

7%

FINANCIAL AND INSURANCE

ACTIVITIES, 7%

ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND

RECREATION, 7%

CONSTRUCTION, 5%

EDUCATION, 5%

HUMAN HEALTH AND SOCIAL WORK ACTIVITIES, 5%

MANUFACTURING, 2%

TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE, 2%

REAL ESTATE ACTIVITIES, 2%

ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD SERVICE

ACTIVITIES, 1%

ACTIVITIES OF EXTRATERRITORIAL

ORGANISATIONS AND BODIES, 1%

Business Sector

Here are the sectorsthe respondents work in. Asyou can see they are verydiverse.

Responses in the othercategory included exampleslike importing,photography, hair andbeauty, PR, recruitment,religion, publishing,printing and drivinginstructor.

Base: Q3 How many employees work for your company? 95, Q4 Which of the following best describes your role? 95, Q5 What sector do you work in? 95

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Summary Findings

46% 45%

5%3%

Office in business premises, WITH

freedom to choose telecoms and

internet connection suppliers

Office at home Office in business premises, WITHOUT freedom to choose

telecoms and internet connection

suppliers

Other

Type of Business Premises

6

A very slim majority ofrespondents work in an officeoutside of their home,followed by home officeworkers in a close second.

Most of these smallbusinesses have the freedomto choose theircommunications andinfrastructure suppliers.

11%

17%

23%

26%

23%

No, never

Less than once a month on average

2 or 3 times a month on average

2 or 3 times a week on average

Every Day

Do you or any of your employees have to work from outside of the office base at any

time?

Nearly 9 out of 10respondents have employeeswho work outside the office atsome point. But nearly half ofall respondents have employeeswho work out of the office morethan once a week on average.

Base: Q6 What kind of business premises do you work from? 95, Q7 Do you or any of your employees have to work from outside of the office base at any time? 95

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Summary Findings77%

67%

22%17%

14%

9%6%

10%

Laptops or notebooks

(given by the company)

Smartphones with internet

and email access

Mobile dongles (for mobile broadband

connectivity)

VOIP telephony VPN access iPads or other tablets

Cloud computing software

Other

Remote Working Systems

7

The most common single piece of kit that employers are giving to their employees in orderto work outside of the office are laptops, with smartphones not far behind.

Furthering this connectivity are mobile internet dongles in third place, with one in fivesmall businesses using them.

Yes49%

No51%

Do employees require access to company servers / databases? Nearly half of small

businesses have employeeswho need access to serversetc. when they are outsideof the office. If you look atthe chart on the right, 47%of those use a VPN networkconnection to get access.

Some of the ‘Other’responses include usingremote access software viathe internet, like remotedesktop systems etc.

38%

15%

47%

Other

Application on mobile phones

VPN connection

How do employees access company servers / databases?

Base: Q8 What systems do you have in place for remote working when outside the office? 69, Q9 When working from outside the office, do any of your employees need to access documents or folders stored on the company's server or databases? 69, Q10 How do your employees access documents or folders stored on the company's server or database, when working outside the office? 34

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Summary Findings

92%

74%

44%

31%

17%11%

7%4% 6%

Landlines Mobile phones

Mobile Hotspot Device

Smartphones via WIFI

VOIP telephony

Cloud Computing Software

Mobile Dongles /

Data Cards

Tablets Other

Office Equipment Used

8

9 out of 10 small businesses have landlines, and three quarters use mobilephones. Not all companies have landlines as standard office equipment.

Smart-phones

60%

Basic Phones

40%

Type of Mobile Phones Used

Base: Q11 Which of the following equipment do you use when working in the office? 95, Q12 You use Tablets and/or Cloud Computing Software in the office, could you tell us what you use? 13, Q13 Which best describes the majority of mobile phones you are using in the company? 95

60% of the small businesses wespoke to already use smartphones.Although there is still a big untappedmarket (40%)

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Summary Findings

9

Oth

er 4

%LG

2%

Sam

sun

g 9

%

HTC 12% Nokia 18% BlackBerry 28% iPhone 49%

Smartphones Used

Nearly half of small business smartphone users are using the iPhone.BlackBerry came in second and accounts for just over a quarter ofsmartphones used, with Nokia making up nearly one fifth of smartphonesused by small businesses.

75%

9%

3%

5%

7%

No

Yes, in less than 3 months

Yes, in 3 months time

Yes, in 3 – 6 months time

Yes, in 6 – 12 months time

Considering purchasing smartphones / increasing number of smartphones

A quarter of small businesses arelooking at purchasing or increasingcurrent numbers within the next year.

Base: Q14 Which smartphone make are you using? 57, Q15 Are you considering purchasing smartphones OR increasing the number of smartphones at any point in the near future? 95, Q16 What best describes your main reason for this purchase or increase in the number of smartphones? 24

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Summary Findings

Yes16%

No84%

Buying a tablet in the next 6 months?

Drivers for choosing a particular device were as follows:• Price• Efficacy• Familiarity with Operating System• The look and feel of them• Most likely to be deployed by customers• Reliable and smoothness of OS• Versatility and mobility

Some of the reasons for buying a tablet were as follows:• Presenting to clients and demonstrating proposals

to customers in a neat and compact way• Easy access to the internet and other information

sources• Great for exhibitions• Light, portable and easy to use• Fun and cutting edge

10

16% of small businesses were consideringbuying a tablet PC in the next 6 months. Those whowere looking stated the Apple iPad and theSamsung Galaxy tab as the ones they wereconsidering.

Base: Q17 Are you actively considering purchasing a TABLET computer in the next 6 months? 95, Q18 What is your main reason for buying tablets? 15, Q19 Which devices are you considering (if known)? 15, Q20 What is the main reason for considering the specific device(s) that you mentioned? 15

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Summary Findings

29%

71%

Yes

No

Do employees need ‘collaborative working’ solutions?

71%

29%

No

Yes

Of those who need a solution, do you currently USE any ‘collaborative

working’ solutions?

Yes20%

No80%

Of those who don’t use a solution, but need one, are they actively looking for a

solution in the next 6 months?

11

30% of small businesses believe their employees need a collaborativeworking solution. Of those who don’t use, 20% are actively looking within thenext 6 months for a solution! 70% of those who need a solution, are not usingone currently.

Base: Q21 Do your employees need to share documents or work together on a document when they are not working on the same local network i.e. in the same or permanently connected offices(collaborative working)? 95, Q22 Do you use any particular collaborative working software to allow your employees to share documents or work together on a document when not in the same location? 28, Q23 Are you actively looking for a collaborative working software solution in the next 6 months? 20

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Summary Findings

6%

14%

57%

23%

Strongly Disagree

Disagree Slightly

Agree Slightly

Strongly Agree

“We are a company highly focused on finding new ways to maximise our work efficiency and we generally use technology to do so”

12

80% of small businesses believe they are focused on discovering ways of maximisingwork efficiency by using technology- nearly a quarter of them strongly agreed!

One of the most recent- and important- additions to this list would be the mobileapplication....

Base: Q24 Thinking about how your business works, how strongly do you agree with the following statement: “We are a company highly focused on finding new ways to maximise our work efficiency and we generally use technology to do so” 95, Q25 Do you or any of your colleagues use any mobile applications on your mobile phone or tablet device, in the course of their work? 95,

....and nearly half of smallbusinesses use mobile applications,or ‘apps’, either on phones, tablets orboth.

41%

2%4%

53%

Do you use mobile applications?

Yes, on mobile phone

Yes, on tablet device

Yes, on both mobile phone and tablet

Not at all

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Summary Findings

13

4%

4%

2%

4%

4%

2%

9%

20%

4%

11%

20%

24%

20%

42%

38%

49%

60%

0%

9%

4%

4%

7%

16%

16%

18%

18%

22%

27%

29%

33%

33%

47%

53%

62%

None

Other

Sports

TV and film

Ringtones & wallpapers

Games

Online shopping

Books, newspapers & publications

Fun, quirky apps to entertain

Music & radio

Places of interest

Social Networking

Practical apps & tools

Travel alerts & updates

News & current affairs

Apps for business/professional life

Navigation

Apps used most frequently for personal and work purposes

Apps used most frequently for personal purposes

Apps used for work purposes

Base: Q26 Overall which types of applications would you say you use most frequently? 45, Q31 Which of the following categories of mobile apps do you use, if any, for work purposes? 45

3 out of 5 app business users usenavigation or mapping apps

Business apps were being usedby half of app users

News and current affairs areimportant to small businesses

Travel updates, practical appsand social networking are closelyranked together

Apps for personal use are alsofrequently used by these businesspeople

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Summary Findings

58%

31%

18%

11%

7%

11%

62%

16%

11%

4%7%

11%

Handset application store or “app shop”

Website provided by handset or operating

system maker

Free app sharing sites on the internet

Network operator’s app shop on the

handset

Network operator's website

Other

Where have you downloaded apps from? &Where have you downloaded THE MOST apps from?

Where have you downloaded apps from?

Where have you downloaded THE MOST apps from?

14

Apps are most likely to have been downloaded from the app store that comes onthe device, however, websites are still an important source

53%

47%

Yes No

Have you ever paid for an app?

29%

63%

8%

Less than £1 £1 - £3 More than £3

On average, how much have you paid for most of the apps you have bought?

The left-hand chart showsthat just over half of smallbusiness app consumers havepaid for apps. Whilst the right-hand chart indicates theaverage price paid has beenbetween £1 to £3, nearly twothirds have paid between thoseamounts.

Base: Q27 Which of the following have you downloaded apps from, to your mobile phone? 45, Q28 Which of the following have you downloaded THE MOST apps from? 45, Q29 Have you ever paid for an app? 45, Q30 On average, how much have you paid for most of the apps you have bought? 24

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Summary Findings

Yes42%

No58%

Are there areas of your business where an app could make your job easier /

more efficient?

15%

3%

8%

10%

10%

15%

28%

28%

30%

33%

35%

35%

38%

48%

Other

Online shopping

Social Networking

Books, newspapers & publications

News & current affairs

Places of interest

Document storage

Travel alerts & updates

Project management

Business & finance

Document management

Navigation

Time management

Accessing files from company network

Which areas could be made easier?

15

When we asked if there wereany areas in your business that anapp could make one’s life easier, 2out of 5 of small businesses saidyes.

Of those who said yes, when we askedthem what areas might be made easier byusing an app, nearly half of them stated thataccessing company files from the networkwould be the biggest help.

Time management came second, wherescheduling tasks and appointments can beeasily done these days, especially with mailboxintegration etc.

Navigation and document managementwere joint third- again it’s trying to get to thatmeeting on time, whilst looking at a documentalong the way.

Business and finance was fourth,reviewing a small company’s finances is alwaysimportant and it’s nice to be able to do this onthe move as time is money, and you might nothave the time to spend in front of yourcomputer checking this.

The ‘Real Business’ apps, such asaccessing files from a network, timemanagement and document managementwere the biggest area that small businessesthought would help make business life easier.

Base: Q32 Are there any areas of your business where an application could make your job easier / more efficient? 95, Q33 Which areas could an application make your job easier / more efficient? 40

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Summary Findings

Yes63%

No37%

Would you consider paying for a BUSINESS APP in future?

20%

23%

19%

12%

7%

12%

7%

7- Not Likely At All

6

5

4

3

2

1- Very Likely

Likelihood of actively searching for business apps in future

16

63% of small businesseswould consider paying for abusiness app in the future

Over a quarter will be activelyseeking out new business apps

Base: Q34 Would you consider paying for a BUSINESS app in the future, if you thought this could be potentially helpful for your business? 95, Q35 How likely are you to actively search for business-related mobile apps in the future? 95

26%

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59%

18%16%

15%

9% 8%

0%

55%

29%

19%

26% 25%

39%

20%

Recommendations from friends /

people you know / other businesses

Computers / technology blogs

Online discussion forums

Recommendations from a handset manufacturer

Recommendations from a mobile

telephony provider

Newspapers / magazines advertising

Outdoor advertising (in train stations,

tube, on the road)

Sources of information about apps and their trustworthiness

These sources are most trusted for information about apps

Seen or heard about apps from these sources

Summary Findings

17

Another interesting finding is that small businesses see or hearabout apps from people they know, and they trust this source the most-more than half of respondents put recommendations from friends andfamily as the most trusted source of information about apps.

Computer and technology blogs and online forums were rated asmore trustworthy than handset manufacturers or network providersrecommendations!

Even though traditional print media for advertising campaigns- e.g.magazines and newspapers- came second with 49% as a source forhearing about apps, it was second to last for being a trustworthy sourcewith only 8%.

Base: Q36 Can you tell us: a) If you have seen or heard about mobile applications from any of the following sources; and b) Which is the source that you would trust the most for information about mobile applications? 95

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Summary Findings

18

What is the most interesting recent development in the IT / mobile technology field, for your business?

Wireless technology advances: e.g. 3G and WIFIMobile technology advances: e.g. Smartphones like Android phones, BlackBerrys and iPhones, mobile

applications, internet donglesMobile computing advances: e.g. Touchscreen technology, netbooks, tablet PCs like the iPad, cloud

computing systemsIncreasing use of social networking and blogging at home, in the office, or on the go- like Facebook,

LinkedIn, Twitter and other chat servicesAbility to check emails, access calendars, browse the internet on the go / on your phone

Mobile video streaming, allowing mobile video conference callingMulti-user remote access retrieval for data and documents from HQ or client servers

Most people were positive about the changes anddevelopments, mainly around the improvements in mobile phoneand mobile computing technology, as well as on-the-go access tosocial networking sites and remote access to company servers.

Base: Q37 Which would you say is the most interesting recent development in the IT / mobile technology field, for your business? 95Q38 Why are these the most interesting recent developments in the IT / mobile technology field, for your business? 95

Why are these the most interesting recent developments in the IT / mobile technology field, for your business?

Increased speed, efficiency and flexibility

Mobile staff are better connected to head office

Enables small businesses to maintain workflow (e.g. emails) out of office hours/when away from office

They provide great marketing routes, and give access to varying customer bases

I am always connected to what’s going on when out and about, and this hasn’t just changed business, but my life

Reduces the need to travel with lots of paper

Maintain better business relationships, e.g. via video conferencing, when it would be costly in time and monetary terms to be there in person

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Summary Findings

19

Which is the technology company

that best understands the needs of

small businesses?

Company# of

Mentions

Apple 11

BlackBerry 5

Microsoft 4

BT 2

Google 2

O2 2

Orange 2

Vodafone 2

Dell 1

HP 1

Mansys 1

Nitro 1

Sage 1

Talk Talk 1

Yahoo 1

None, they are all obsessed

with big business.1

Base: Q39 Which is the technology company that best understands the needs of small businesses? 95

Our last question asked whichtechnology company best understandsthe needs of small businesses, andagain we had a range of responsesfrom hardware manufacturers,software providers, telephony- mobileand landline- providers, as well assome other service companies.

Apple came out on top- smallbusinesses felt that they understandtheir needs best. BlackBerry wassecond with Microsoft coming third

However, given there are nearly100 respondents, there are no realwinners in this ‘poll’

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Metro Research LtdUnit 118, The Chandlery50 Westminster Bridge RoadLondon SE1 7QY0870 241 2401www.metroresearch.com