AMI-Partners Studies Show IT Security to be a Lead Priority Among Canada Small and Medium Businesses, Following the Trend of Other Global Economies; While Dell is the Top PC Brand Among SBs, White Boxes Are a Popular Alternative.

NEW YORK -- Canada small and medium businesses' (SMBs) investment in IT security has expanded significantly, with security-related expenditures totaling US$273 million in 2004, an impressive 36% rate of growth from the previous year. Canada SMBs invested heavily in an array of technology products and solutions during 2004. Given the current state of the IT environment, where there are continuous security intrusions stemming from viruses, worms, and trojans, IT security has become a critical focus over the past 12 months.

The above findings were released today by New York-based AMI-Partners, a leading consulting firm that specializes in IT, Internet, telecommunications and business services market intelligence -- with a strong focus on global small and medium business (SMB) enterprises. AMI-Partners conducts the industry's most comprehensive annual tracking surveys of SMBs in more than 20 countries, including North America (U.S. and Canada); Europe (U.K., France, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland and Russia); Asia-Pacific (Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand); and Latin America (Mexico and Brazil).

Strong Attitudes about Security

Without a doubt, Canada SMBs are acknowledging the relevance of establishing a secure technology infrastructure in which they can effectively conduct their business operations. "Like many of their peers from established and emerging economies who are grappling with security threats, there is the realization that a solid commitment must be made in order to adequately protect their businesses," said Jennifer Chu, Senior Analyst at AMI-Partners. AMI survey results show that both Canada SBs and MBs have designated data back-up, as well as disaster recovery and data security, to be their top strategic focus areas for the next 12 months.

Establishing the Security Foundation

Beyond merely having a security-focused mindset, small and medium businesses in Canada have been taking action and laying the groundwork for a secure environment. Baseline security solutions have been adopted with more advanced solutions beginning to take hold, particularly among Canada MBs.

--Over three fourths of Canada SBs and over nine in ten Canada MBs have installed anti-virus software.

--Over a third of Canada SBs and two thirds of Canada MBs have implemented anti-spam measures.

--Nearly half of Canada SBs and over three fourths of Canada MBs are utilizing network-based firewalls.

--More than one in ten Canada SBs and nearly six in ten Canada MBs have deployed virtual private networks.

Clearly, even small businesses are recognizing that relatively simple measures such as anti-virus software and firewall installation can be valuable weapons in combating the daily barrage of security threats.

White box Desktop PCs Still Resonating with Canada SBs

Small businesses by nature have limited resources and expertise when it comes to technology acquisitions. Consequently, white box (or built-to-order) PCs have been a popular alternative for many Canada SBs from brand name machines. While Dell is the most widespread desktop PC brand with 30% usage, 27% of Canada SBs currently have white box desktops within their firms. Besides customized configuration of features, price and service/support play a strong role in the decision to buy white box PCs. Typically, white boxes are purchased from local retailers/value-added resellers (VARs) who can offer strong personalized post-sales support. Roughly half of those Canada SBs that recently purchased desktop PCs opted to do so from their local VAR.

About the Studies

AMI's 2004-2005 Canada Small Business Market Overview and Topline Assessment and 2004-2005 Canada Medium Business Market Overview and Topline Assessment studies highlight these and other major trends in the context of current/planned IT, Internet and communications usage and spending. Products and services covered include established and emerging hardware, software, applications and business process solutions. Based on AMI's annual surveys of SBs and MBs across Canada, the studies track a broad spectrum of issues pertaining to budgets, purchase behaviors, decision influencers, channel preferences, outsourcing, service and support. Also covered are detailed firmographics and critically important technology attitudes and strategic planning priorities. These point to key opportunities and messaging hot buttons for vendors and service providers seeking to match their offerings to SMB market requirements.

For more information about these studies, AMI-Partners, or our global SMB research, please call AMI-Partners at 212-944-5100, e-mail [e-mail], or visit the AMI Web site at www.ami-partners.com.

About AMI-Partners

AMI-Partners specializes in IT, Internet, telecommunications and business services strategy, venture capital, and actionable market intelligence -- focusing on global small and medium business (SMB) enterprises. The AMI-Partners mission is to empower clients for success with the highest quality data, business planning and "go-to-market" solutions. AMI was founded in 1996 under the name of Access Media International (USA), Inc. by Andy Bose, formerly a group vice president at IDC. Since its inception, the firm has built a world-class management team, each with ten to fifteen years' experience in IT, telecom, online communications or multimedia.

AMI-Partners has helped shape the go-to-market SMB strategies of more than 150 leading IT, Internet, telecommunications and business services companies over the last nine years. The firm is well known for its IT and Internet adoption-based segmentation of the SMB markets; its annual retainership services based on global SMB tracking surveys in more than 20 countries; and its proprietary database of SMBs and SMB channel partners in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The company invests significantly in collecting survey-based information from several thousand SMBs annually, and is considered the premier source for global SMB trends and analysis.