42% of SMEs prefer to partner with a CSP on 5G, says report
According to a report conducted by Omdia and BearingPoint//Beyond, the global potential market of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for CSPs, particularly when it comes to 5G, remains significantly untapped. The report indicates that while SMEs represent 99% of the world’s businesses, with a services market estimated to be worth $433 billion by 2025, CSPs are busy focusing 70% of their resources on only 1% of the enterprise market.
With needs often as complex as those of larger businesses, SMEs stand to benefit from the implementation of 5G services just as much. According to the report, “5G’s fundamental core is about scalability. It could be a game-changer to help SMEs increase productivity and efficiency and create new opportunities across the value chain.”
Further, a previous Omdia report revealed that nearly half of SMEs trust that 5G can support critical business activities and assets, such as creating an online business and protecting intellectual property.
An additional key aspect to this discussion is the faith that SME have in CSPs, with 42% of them stating that they trust them the most when it comes to 5G strategy execution, representing the most popular selection. Only 28% of larger and multinational enterprises said the same. For those larger companies, cloud service providers took the lead, with 33% indicating they would trust them the most. And when you add up how many larger enterprises selected a preference to work with a 5G partner that is not a CSP, you’re looking at around 72% who would prefer to work with a service provider that is not a CSP.
“SMEs are aware of the benefits 5G can bring to their businesses and already view CSPs as their trusted 5G partners. It’s therefore critical that CSPs enable 5G to triage SMEs’ business context and industry solutions with outcome-based value propositions, to reap the rewards of this customer base,” Camille Mendler, chief analyst, Enterprise Services, Service Provider & Communication at Omdia.
Despite the fact larger companies are not largely considering them as their primary 5G provider, CSPs still identify them as the segment that will drive 5G revenues, leaving SMEs hanging.
“CSPs are still trying to approach 5G the same way they approached 4G, with a clear focus on consumer and enterprise. However, 5G opens new opportunities for CSPs and one of them is the SME segment,” Angus Ward, CEO of BearingPoint//Beyond is quoted as saying in the report. “Digitalization and COVID-19 have transformed the needs of SMEs and their awareness of the impact that new technologies such as 5G, IoT, and AI can have on their business to enhance productivity and efficiency, and boost sales.”
Ward added that SMEs are changing, saying that many are looking for a technology partner that will foster an ecosystem for the co-creation of solutions that will lead to a better service.
“For CSPs, this is a unique opportunity, especially considering SMEs see them as a strong candidate to fulfill this role. However, to realize this opportunity, CSPs will have to address the different types of SMEs out there, their unique needs and the vertical context. This will mean gradually developing a growing number of solutions with an increasing number of technology partners and vertical specialists,” he stated.
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