Small businesses in IT need to take this opportunity to upgrade their technological capabilities if they are to escape the downturn early, it has been emphasised.

Ardent Solutions' most recent survey found that nearly a quarter of small firms in the UK are struggling as a result of this lack of investment by their own admission, blaming smaller budgets on the recession, Computing reported.

Increased downtime and system reliability were the biggest issues, while increased maintenance costs also caused many issues.
Andrew Watkinson, the managing director of Ardent, said SMEs cannot afford to fall behind.

He continued: "Making the move to software-as-a-service is the logical next step: in addition to the cost arguments, this model provides organisations with guaranteed access to the latest technologies and up to date expertise."

Comments mirror those by Angus McSween of the iomart Group, who stated that small businesses in IT wanting to establish an online presence ought to look at investing in software-as-a-service.

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.