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Small to Midsized Businesses Level Up Technology With Third-Party Services

Delegating some IT services to partners allows small businesses to focus on strategic technology initiatives that drive business objectives while reducing overall security risk.

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IN THIS ARTICLE

In today’s rapidly evolving technology landscape, small to midsized businesses face many of the same technological challenges as their larger counterparts, but they’re forced to do so with smaller budgets and fewer resources. SMBs must fend off the same adversaries seeking to compromise their data and interrupt their business continuity. They must do this while simultaneously seeking to implement innovative forms of technology that will allow them to remain competitive, control costs and drive new business. So, where can SMB owners and IT leaders turn to fill the gaps they inevitably encounter? Third-party service providers are becoming an integral part of the solution. However, according to McKinsey, providers must keep in mind the particular challenges that set the SMB market apart from the enterprise segment: “Tech suppliers cannot simply apply their enterprise portfolio and channel strategy to SMBs and expect it to work. To succeed, they must understand the SMBs’ unique buying preferences and unmet needs, and tailor their products and commercial approaches accordingly.”

Find out how CDW can help organizations of every size achieve optimal results.

In today’s rapidly evolving technology landscape, small to midsized businesses face many of the same technological challenges as their larger counterparts, but they’re forced to do so with smaller budgets and fewer resources. SMBs must fend off the same adversaries seeking to compromise their data and interrupt their business continuity. They must do this while simultaneously seeking to implement innovative forms of technology that will allow them to remain competitive, control costs and drive new business. So, where can SMB owners and IT leaders turn to fill the gaps they inevitably encounter? Third-party service providers are becoming an integral part of the solution. However, according to McKinsey, providers must keep in mind the particular challenges that set the SMB market apart from the enterprise segment: “Tech suppliers cannot simply apply their enterprise portfolio and channel strategy to SMBs and expect it to work. To succeed, they must understand the SMBs’ unique buying preferences and unmet needs, and tailor their products and commercial approaches accordingly.”

Find out how CDW can
help organizations of every size
achieve optimal results.

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Small Businesses Face Heightened Tech Challenges

Collectively, SMBs play an enormous role in the U.S. economy, constituting 46% of private sector employment and creating 55% of net jobs between 2013 and 2023. Yet they are also vulnerable, finding it harder to recover from major events such as the pandemic or a ransomware attack. Many SMBs struggle daily to optimize their technology environments due to limited budgets, time or internal expertise.

Companies need scalable, rightsized solutions and services tailored to their market. Effective cybersecurity and modern infrastructure are crucial for growth, requiring cost-effective strategies and smart investments. This is a primary reason why a growing number of SMBs invest in third-party technology services.

Many leaders also face budget constraints that prevent hiring technology professionals for key areas such as networking, data storage, backup, disaster recovery and cybersecurity. Yet leaders typically do not have the time to manage these functions effectively or to explore new capabilities, such as automation and artificial intelligence (AI).

While many SMBs outsource their IT help desk and break/fix services, third-party services have evolved to deliver many types of support tailored for smaller organizations, including device configuration, software licensing, cloud migration support and disaster recovery planning. Security services, such as environmental assessments and penetration tests, provide valuable insight into potential vulnerabilities and risk management strategies. Often, engaging a partner is more cost-effective and may deliver superior results compared with developing internal expertise.

52%

The percentage of SMBs that outsource security to managed service providers or channel providers



Some SMBs look to local providers for IT operations support. However, businesses with remote employees or those serving multiple regions may need the resources of a larger team that can ensure consistent, centralized service. Effective partners understand SMBs’ unique needs and can help them develop strategies suited to their capabilities and budgets. By shouldering some of the crucial work of IT optimization, partners enable SMBs to focus on their core mission, knowing they have the right tools and protections in place.

Find out how CDW can
help organizations of every size
achieve optimal results.

Small Businesses Face Heightened Tech Challenges

Collectively, SMBs play an enormous role in the U.S. economy, constituting 46% of private sector employment and creating 55% of net jobs between 2013 and 2023. Yet they are also vulnerable, finding it harder to recover from major events such as the pandemic or a ransomware attack. Many SMBs struggle daily to optimize their technology environments due to limited budgets, time or internal expertise.

Companies need scalable, rightsized solutions and services tailored to their market. Effective cybersecurity and modern infrastructure are crucial for growth, requiring cost-effective strategies and smart investments. This is a primary reason why a growing number of SMBs invest in third-party technology services.

Many leaders also face budget constraints that prevent hiring technology professionals for key areas such as networking, data storage, backup, disaster recovery and cybersecurity. Yet leaders typically do not have the time to manage these functions effectively or to explore new capabilities, such as automation and artificial intelligence (AI).

While many SMBs outsource their IT help desk and break/fix services, third-party services have evolved to deliver many types of support tailored for smaller organizations, including device configuration, software licensing, cloud migration support and disaster recovery planning. Security services, such as environmental assessments and penetration tests, provide valuable insight into potential vulnerabilities and risk management strategies. Often, engaging a partner is more cost-effective and may deliver superior results compared with developing internal expertise.

Some SMBs look to local providers for IT operations support. However, businesses with remote employees or those serving multiple regions may need the resources of a larger team that can ensure consistent, centralized service. Effective partners understand SMBs’ unique needs and can help them develop strategies suited to their capabilities and budgets. By shouldering some of the crucial work of IT optimization, partners enable SMBs to focus on their core mission, knowing they have the right tools and protections in place.

52%

The percentage of SMBs that outsource security to managed service providers or channel providers



Find out how CDW can
help organizations of every size
achieve optimal results.

Small Business Cybersecurity by the Numbers

47%

The percentage of SMB leaders reporting a recent cybersecurity breach resulting from compromised passwords

Source: LastPass, “SMB Cybersecurity Disconnect,” April 2024

90%

The percentage of midsized business owners who say cybersecurity is a threat to their business

Source: Bank of America, “2024 Business Owner Report,” March 2024

82%

The percentage of SMB leaders whose cybersecurity budgets are increasing year over year

Source: LastPass, “SMB Cybersecurity Disconnect,” April 2024

Small Business Cybersecurity by the Numbers

47%

The percentage of SMB leaders reporting a recent cybersecurity breach resulting from compromised passwords

Source: LastPass, “SMB Cybersecurity Disconnect,” April 2024

90%

The percentage of midsized business owners who say cybersecurity is a threat to their business

Source: Bank of America, “2024 Business Owner Report,” March 2024

82%

The percentage of SMB leaders whose cybersecurity budgets are increasing year over year

Source: LastPass, “SMB Cybersecurity Disconnect,” April 2024

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IT Solutions for Small Businesses

SMBs need solutions that reduce IT workloads and simplify overall management. A trusted partner can help businesses ensure they are spending IT dollars wisely, achieving the most impact for the lowest cost while supporting business objectives. SMBs can start by ensuring they have a solid foundation in these key areas.

CYBERSECURITY: SMBs often find they have multiple security tools and no one to manage them holistically. Still, a proactive, layered defense is crucial. A penetration test is an excellent way to identify gaps and gain recommendations about how to improve security posture through a strategic combination of solutions and services.

CLOUD ARCHITECTURE: Cloud solutions can reduce costs while providing agility to scale and flexibility to accommodate seasonal fluctuations. However, businesses must be strategic about cloud investments to keep costs in check. They also need visibility into employees’ Software as a Service (SaaS) tools to ensure these comply with security policies and procedures.

DATA MANAGEMENT: Data can be a powerful asset or a potential liability, depending on how effectively businesses manage, secure and leverage it. Businesses of all sizes should address data governance to ensure they maintain data integrity while also positioning themselves to take advantage of emerging capabilities such as automation and AI.

SOFTWARE OPTIMIZATION: Servers, storage and networking are the backbone of IT capabilities. Rightsizing these solutions to enable growth without incurring technical debt requires a holistic understanding of the environment and a solid grasp of potential solutions. Partners can help SMBs assess their options so they derive the best results from these investments.

DEVICE MANAGEMENT: SMBs managing a large number of devices may use asset management solutions or services to simplify the work of procurement, provisioning and configuration. For example, CDW’s Device as a Service provides supported devices with full lifecycle management to ensure employees have the tools they need to stay productive.

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CDW Partner Offerings for Small Businesses

CDW’s experts have extensive experience helping businesses of all sizes resolve technical challenges, optimize their IT environments and achieve sustainable results. Our solutions and services deliver enterprise-level expertise scaled to the unique needs of small to midsized businesses. These are a few of our services for SMBs that want to explore new areas of partner expertise.

Cloud solutions increase agility but can easily sprawl. Gain greater visibility and increase cloud ROI with CDW’s Inscape services, designed to simplify management, improve security and reduce costs.

CDW Technology Support for Cisco and Microsoft provides a single point of contact and timely resolution. The outcome is less downtime, so that staff can get back to business.

CDW’s Microsoft 365 Copilot workshop helps customers understand the generative AI capabilities of Microsoft’s AI assistant and develop a plan to leverage them effectively to increase employees’ productivity.

CDW’s Managed Services for Cisco Meraki provides 24/7/365 device monitoring, maintenance and management, with remote troubleshooting, configuration maintenance, and software and license management to ensure the infrastructure continuously operates within a business’s expectations.

Learn how CDW can help
organizations of every size
achieve optimal results.