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Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will be offered advice about security and IT support by two organisations which are now joining forces to make their help service more effective, it has emerged.

Vnunet.com reported that the Federation Against Software Theft (Fast) and Investors in Software (IiS) hope that IT support will gain valuable information which could prevent disasters, highlight the importance of software asset management and ensure software IP protection.

The two organisations will retain their original names, the news provider added, although providing a joint message about key functions of IT governance.

John Lovelock, chief executive of Fast, said the new joint approach was the best way to educate SMEs.

"Educating legitimate organisational end-users from this perspective, while ensuring that we continue to protect the IP rights of our members against deliberate acts of piracy is a more appropriate and focused response to the needs we see in the market today," he told the news provider.

Fast was established in 1984 as part of government legislation, making it the first software copyright organisation in the world.

According to a recent survey by Connect, the two biggest IT headaches for businesses were 'everyday hassles with IT' (37 per cent) and 'security concerns' (32 per cent) In a recent survey of SMEs for Connect, the two most important benefits of outsourcing were 'guaranteed response times' and 'allowing in-house IT staff to concentrate on more strategic issues'