Computer companies covet small businesses because they comprise a huge, multi-billion market of millions of prospects. But selling effectively to SMBs (small-to-midsize businesses) is tricky because their needs are so diverse.
Another factor, detailed by CIO Update, is that SMBs have minimal to no IT staff and require products and services that are simple to use and reliable. Now HP, already a major player in the SMB space, hopes to make its product line more appealing to this fast-growing market.
CUPERTINO, Calif. — As the economy begins to ride out and recover from the recession, computer giant Hewlett-Packard sees that small businesses, particularly in the U.S., are ready to cautiously resume spending on IT.
At a media event here, HP (NYSE: HPQ) officials briefly detailed a few new product offerings, but spent the bulk of their time talking about the company’s expanded efforts to win more of the multi-billion-dollar small business market.
HP also hinted at an upcoming cloud computing announcement aimed at small business, but gave few details. “Looking to the future, we’re seeing strong growth and opportunity for a Web-empowered ecosystem that will connect your computers, printers, your iPhone, whatever, to retail partners,” Todd Birzer, a marketing manager with HP’s printing and enterprise solution group, said. “This will be an HP cloud, but I’m not going into details today.”
