SMBS IT SPEND AT USD 6.6 BILLION IN 2007-08: ZINNOV STUDY

Bangalore

IT spend by small and medium business (SMB) units in India stood at USD 6.6 billion in the last fiscal that accounted for more than one-fourth of the country's total IT spend in the same year, a study today said.

According to the study released here by the management consulting firm Zinnov Management Consulting said IT spend by SMBs in the last fiscal was at around 30 per cent of the country total spend in Fiscal 2007-08.

The study 'IT opportunity in Indian SMB sector' also said that the total size of the Indian SMB space today is 35 million units, with retail contributing 52 per cent of the total landscape.

PC, peripherals and application software makes up a majority of the SMB spend today. IT/ITES and professional services sector have the highest PC penetration. There are about 5,000 IT/ITeS companies in India, which have 100 per cent PC penetration.

The study also said increase in the penetration of Internet in the form of high speed broadband in the rural sector has helped in IT adoption. For the last seven years, Internet in India is growing at a compounded annual rate of 46 per cent.

The total value of benefit to the Indian economy due to growth from broadband is expected to be at USD 90 billion for the years 2010-2020, it said.

The study on defines the term 'SMB' as organisations with employee strength of up to 999.

Retail sector has maximum contribution to the SMB landscape with about 15 to 18 million units, followed by services sector (9.5 million) and manufacturing (7.3 million units).

Globalisation in trade is forcing SMBs to improve their efficiency in conducting business, it said