SMB Community Survey Results - Part 1

Last week I put together a survey and asked the community to respond. Boy, you sure did! We had almost 500 responses (498, actually). Of those, 204 people entered in comments. Some of them were quite long. In all, you gave more than 10,000 words of feedback.

Twenty-four countries were represented (Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greenland, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, US).

Here are the core survey results. I've added just a few notes at the end for some stats that are not immediately obvious.

I have a press release coming out with some commentary on this. You can get a copy here: http://www.smallbizthoughts.com/media_press/index.html

If you are interested in a Word document with all of the comments, you can request that here. (27 pages - Free, of course.) I have stripped out individual names and and email addresses. Other than that, it's just as entered in the comment section.

Tomorrow I'll give a little more analysis and my current opinion on a few things. Here are the summary stats:

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Question	Responses	n =	%
1. How surprised were you by Microsoft's announcement to discontinue the SBS Standard product?	1. Not at all Surprised 2. Not much 3. Somewhere in the Middle 4. Somewhat 5. Completely Surprised Totals:	40 61 88 113 194 496	8.1% 12.3% 17.7% 22.8% 39.1% 100%
2. The new Small Business Competency only requires one MCP and costs $999. Is this a competency you will seek?	1. No Way 2. Probably Not 3. Maybe 4. Probably Will 5. Yes Definitely Will Totals:	148 165 85 57 28 483	30.6% 34.2% 17.6% 11.8% 5.8% 100%
3. How many Small Business Severs (any edition or year) did you install in the last 12 months?	None 1-5 6-10 11-20 21 or More Totals:	36 233 124 66 35 494	7.3% 47.2% 25.1% 13.4% 7.1% 100%
4. How likely are you to sell these services in the next 12 months? > Hosted Exchange Server/Mailboxes	1 - We Will Not 2 - Probably Not 3 - Probably 4 - We Will 5 - We Already Are Totals:	96 92 86 39 178 491	19.6% 18.7% 17.5% 7.9% 36.3% 100%
4. How likely are you to sell these services in the next 12 months? > Hosted Spam Filtering	1 - We Will Not 2 - Probably Not 3 - Probably 4 - We Will 5 - We Already Are Totals:	68 69 70 36 246 489	13.9% 14.1% 14.3% 7.4% 50.3% 100%
4. How likely are you to sell these services in the next 12 months? > Cloud Based Storage	1 - We Will Not 2 - Probably Not 3 - Probably 4 - We Will 5 - We Already Are Totals:	88 113 122 45 118 486	18.1% 23.3% 25.1% 9.3% 24.3% 100%
4. How likely are you to sell these services in the next 12 months? > Cloud Backup	1 - We Will Not 2 - Probably Not 3 - Probably 4 - We Will 5 - We Already Are Totals:	67 69 93 53 202 484	13.8% 14.3% 19.2% 11.0% 41.7% 100%
4. How likely are you to sell these services in the next 12 months? > Cloud DR	1 - We Will Not 2 - Probably Not 3 - Probably 4 - We Will 5 - We Already Are Totals:	94 138 90 49 100 471	20.0% 29.3% 19.1% 10.4% 21.2% 100%
4. How likely are you to sell these services in the next 12 months? > Hosted Content Filtering	1 - We Will Not 2 - Probably Not 3 - Probably 4 - We Will 5 - We Already Are Totals:	93 147 118 29 95 482	19.3% 30.5% 24.5% 6.0% 19.7% 100%
4. How likely are you to sell these services in the next 12 months? > Other Cloud Service(s)	1 - We Will Not 2 - Probably Not 3 - Probably 4 - We Will 5 - We Already Are Totals:	69 112 130 47 105 463	14.9% 24.2% 28.1% 10.2% 22.7% 100%
5. SBS Standard Edition will continue to be available via the OEM channel through December 31, 2013. Is that enough time for you to determine what your revised business model will be?	1. No Way 2. Probably Not 3. Maybe 4. Probably 5. Yes Definitely Totals:	32 67 110 148 137 494	6.5% 13.6% 22.3% 30.0% 27.2% 100%
6. Have you looked at SBS Essentials and Foundation Server to determine where they fit in your business model?	We have looked at SBS Essentials Only We have looked at Foundation Server Only We have looked at both SBS Essentials and Foundation Server We have looked at Neither Totals:	125 11 241 118 495	25.3% 2.2% 48.7% 23.8% 100%
7. If you stopped selling SBS tomorrow, do you have a solution package already mapped/planned out to replace it?	No Yes Totals:	331 163 494	67.0% 33.0% 100%
8. Are you a regular participant in an IT Pro group or SBS User Group?	No Yes Sometimes Totals:	85 220 191 496	17.1% 44.4% 38.5% 100%
9. Are you currently a Microsoft Small Business Specialist (SBSC)?	No Yes Totals:	175 319 494	35.4% 64.6% 100%
10. Do you believe you will be able to develop a successful cloud-integrated I.T. offering in the next 12 months?	1. No Way 2. Probably Not 3. Maybe 4. Probably 5. Yes Definitely Totals:	54 86 126 105 125 496	10.9% 17.3% 25.4% 21.2% 25.2% 100%
11. Do you anticipate becoming More or Less involved in the SMB I.T. Community in the next 12 months?	1. Definitely Less 2. Probably Less 3. Not Sure 4. Probably More 5. Definitely More Totals:	32 89 203 127 44 495	6.5% 18.0% 41.0% 25.7% 8.9% 100%

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Additional Stats and Notes About the Numbers

- A total of 498 people filled out the survey.

- 62% of respondents were somewhat surprised or completely surprised by the announcement that that SBS Standard would be discontinued at the end of 2013.

- 65% of respondents identified themselves as Microsoft Small Business Specialists (SBSC).

- 65% of respondents say they definitely will not, or probably will not, seek the new Small Business Competency.

- Of those who identified themselves as SBSC, 58% say they will not, or probably will not, seek the new Small Business Competency.

- Over half ( 54.5% ) of respondents installed between zero and five Small Business Servers in the last year.

- For each of the cloud services that we asked about, 20-50% of respondents are already selling the service.

- When you combine those who probably will, definitely will, and already are selling each of the cloud services we asked about, the totals are in the range 50-70% for each service.

- An amazing 76% of all respondents have looked at either SBS Essentials, Foundation Server, or both.

- While 67% of respondents said that they would not have a solution to replace SBS if it disappeared tomorrow, 58% of them believe they will be able to revise their business model by the end of next year. 46% believe they will have a successful cloud-integrated offering within the next 12 months.

- 83% of respondents participate in IT Pro groups at some level. 35% say they expect to be more involved in the SMB IT Community in the next year while 24% expect to be less involved.

Comments welcome. More to come!

Thanks again to everyone who participated.

:-)