Over 1,000 Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) responded to the independent survey which was carried out between September and October to identify and rate SMEs’ selection criteria when looking for an ISP, together with their motivations for changing provider.
An important decisive factor for SMEs is the level of support provided by ISPs. 85% stated that the level of support was the most important criteria when choosing an ISP and the highest number of respondents, 80%, considers UK support to be very important.
Businesses however change ISP infrequently. Just over half of those asked, 55% were happy with their current supplier and were unlikely to change, 68% had not changed ISP in the last year and only 13% are considering changing ISP at present.
When they do, it’s mainly when there are issues with reliability, quality of service, cost or for higher speeds. It was found that 72% of SMEs said they would change provider because of unreliable connection, but note only 40% would change to save money. 98% of SMEs consider reliable Internet access to be critical to the needs of their business.
71% of SMEs thought it was important that their ISP was business orientated, as 80% use the web to locate suppliers and 76% use it for purchasing activities.
Steve Proctor, Product Manager, Broadband said: “SMEs have very different needs from Consumers. If a business has internet reliability issues, it costs them business, revenue and reputation.”
“We are committed to providing our customers with the best ISP service in the UK and to do this our customers expect excellent support as well as a reliable service.”
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, quotes that there were an estimated 4.7m private sector companies in the UK at the start of 2007, employing an estimated 22.7m people with a combined annual turnover of £2,800bn.