Medium-sized businesses are investing fast in digital technology to stay ahead according to HPE outfit Aruba.
Aruba’s ‘The Hidden Middle’ report quized more than 2,700 employees in management and non-management roles across medium-sized businesses.
It discovered medium-sized businesses are the most active users of workplace technology with almost two-thirds of business employees rated the ‘choice of technology, applications and IT support’ at their company as either good or very good.
That compared to 53 percent of those also surveyed from the largest companies. Medium-sized businesses were ahead of the competition in their use of advanced audio-visual technologies (such as voice-activated speakers), which are offered by an average of 27 percent of medium-sized business, compared to 16 percent of smaller and 22 percent of larger employers.
Medium-sized businesses are placing a heavy emphasis on the cloud with a quarter investing in cloud storage software over the last 12 months, compared to 17 percent of large firms. Medium-sized businesses appear to be prioritising cyber security software: 39 percent reported investments in this area in the last year, compared to 31 percent of large businesses.
Medium-sized business employees are significantly more likely to rate their ‘environment at work’ as either good or very good in comparison to those at the largest companies (57 percent).
Businesses of this size are also more agile when it comes to offering flexibility for employees to use personal devices at work – with 72 percent of medium-sized business employees allowed to do this, compared to only 53 percent of those who work for larger employers.
According to Morten Illum, VP of EMEA at Aruba: “As the adoption and integration of technology becomes a bigger priority across the corporate spectrum, medium-sized businesses have a distinct opportunity. Though often forgotten in the digital transformation conversation – with the focus instead on how large companies are struggling to adapt or smaller businesses are seizing the ability to scale – it is medium-sized businesses whose employees show the agility and willingness to make better use of technology and understanding of the opportunities it brings. The key is enabling them to do so. But with that comes a certain degree of security risk.
“The success of the digital workplace depends on the practical implementation of technology – and that’s as much about the user experience as it is the technical infrastructure. For medium-sized businesses to realise the full value of their investments and eliminate the risks, their leaders must ensure employees are given the training and support needed to make both productive and safe use of the new tools.”
