Parallels has released a detailed market research about Cloud demand of German small and medium businesses (SMBs), based on interviews with 400 German SMBs of different sizes and industries about their Cloud consumption.
Parallels estimates that the market opportunity to serve SMBs in Germany with Cloud services is €770M and growing. The report provides valuable insights into the opportunities about the pace of adoption by SMBs for all types of Cloud services – from web presence, to communications and collaboration, to virtualized infrastructure and software as a service (IaaS and SaaS). Ample opportunity exists for service providers to upsell their existing customers – both within their current service areas and by adding new services.
When looking at the E-Mail use in German SMBs, Parallels´ report found that free forms of E-Mail dominate the SMB market, with 33% using free provider accounts such as GMX or Gmail, and 45% using free hosted E-Mail through their Web presence provider. However, Parallels sees opportunity with small SMSs (with 10 – 49 employees). In this segment, 36% are currently using in-house E-Mail servers – an expensive and complicated solution for small companies.
SMBs move from in-house to the Cloud
Open-Xchange-based premium hosted E-Mail, which includes security, archiving, and mobilty, is a good business choice for these companies, who can benefit both from the team collaboration aspects and from a „pay-per-seat“ pricing model. Parallels research found that 53% of small SMBs are either definitly plannig to switch from in-house E-Mail servers to paid, hosted E-Mail in the next three years or thinking of doing so. This opportunity adds up to a million new hosted mailboxes to the market.
In addition, Open-Xchange enables web presence provider with the perfect tools to upsell customers from free hosted E-Mail to Open-Xchange paid premium E-Mail as customers can order easily superior collaboration and mobility features directly in their Open-Xchange E-Mail interface!
Please contact Parallels directly to get the full report, which is available in German and English language. Parallels did already a SMB Cloud Insights reports for U. S., specific reports for other European markets will follow in the coming weeks, including the U.K., France and the Netherlands.