Economic Clouds Beginning to Break For SMBs In Brazil.

Second Quarter Panel shows a slight drop in the concern for the economy when compared with first quarter results, says AMI research

NEW YORK -- Negative business sentiment among small and medium businesses (SMBs, or companies with 999 employees or less) in Brazil are beginning to ease, as firms continue to weather the economic storm. In the first quarter of 2009, three out of four of these businesses admitted being "very concerned" about the economy; these numbers have started to decrease in the second quarter of 2009. Approximately one in ten small businesses (SBs, or companies with 99 employees or less) reported that they are not as concerned as they were they were in the previous three months. Medium businesses (MBs, or companies with 100 to 999 employees) are not as optimistic.

The findings come from a recent survey by New York-based Access Markets International (AMI) Partners, Inc. The findings reveal that negative business sentiment is beginning to level off and is being replaced by a cautiously optimistic attitude among SMBs in Brazil. This change in attitude is beginning to fuel a desire for ICT products and services once again.

"SMBs have certainly tightened their belts and cut costs in a number of different ways over the past several months," says Chad Henry, an associate at AMI. "They are, however, beginning to see positive signs with regard to their growth prospects relative to the beginning of 2009."

The study reveals that a healthy level of latent demand is beginning to enter the Brazilian IT market once again.

"One of the primary drivers of this IT demand is the need for firms to connect with their current customers and manage those relationships in a more effective manner," says Mr. Henry. While the vast majority of SMBs report having been negatively affected by the economic situation in one form or another (restricted cash flow, decreased revenue, etc), they also see a clear need to empower employees with productivity tools that will help deliver business and maintain customer relationships.

The study, titled "State of the Brazil SMB Market: Quarterly Pulse, Wave 2," tracks how SMBs are navigating the economic downturn. Specifically designed to address changes as they happen amid the economic crisis, the study covers the economic impact on SMBs, ICT spending/total addressable market, buying behavior, and routes to market/channels.

Related Studies

AMI's quarterly SMB tracking study - Q Pulse - is conducted in eleven countries: U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, France, UK, Germany, China, India, Korea, and Australia. The study surveys business decision makers of small and medium businesses from four perspectives: 1) Mindset, economic impact and the actions that are being taken to manage their businesses; 2) IT purchase plans including spending, brands and planning; 3) Buying behaviors including routes to market and decision making, and 4) Insights for fine-tuning Go-to-Market plans including value propositions, messaging, marketing mix and more.

To purchase this report go to www.ami-partners.com.

For more information about AMI-Partners, or our global SMB research, call 212-944-5100, e-mail [e-mail] or visit www.ami-partners.com.

About Access Markets International (AMI) Partners, Inc.

AMI-Partners specializes in IT, Internet, telecommunications and business services strategy, venture capital, and actionable market intelligence -- with a strong focus on global small and medium businesses (SMBs), and extending into large enterprises and home-based businesses. The AMI-Partners mission is to empower clients for success with the highest quality data, business strategy perspectives and "go-to-market" solutions. Led by Andy Bose, the firm has built a world-class management team with deep experience cutting across IT, telecommunications and business services sectors in established and emerging markets.

AMI-Partners has helped shape the go-to-market SMB strategies of more than 150 leading IT, Internet, telecommunications and business services companies. 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 25 countries; and its proprietary database of SMBs and SMB channel partners in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The firm invests significantly in collecting survey-based information from several thousand SMBs annually, and is considered the premier source for global SMB trends and analysis.