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HOSTWAY'S "STEALTH REVOLUTION" REPORT SHOWS INTERNET
DRIVING UNDER-THE-RADAR BUSINESS TRANSFORMATIONS FOR SMALL AND MID-SIZED
BUSINESSES
Emerging generation of Web-based businesses provides sharp contrast
to U.S. manufacturing decline.
Chicago, IL-Tuesday, April 25, 2005-As
National Small Business Week 2005 begins today, a new report from
Hostway Corporation finds small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) leading
a "Stealth Revolution" powered by the ever-expanding use of the Web
to manage and grow their businesses.
Hostway's report, "The SMB Stealth Revolution," is available for free
and unlimited downloading at hostway.com/media/stealthrevolution/stealthrevolution.pdf
The Web-powered SMB developments identified in Hostway's report go
far beyond just the "wiring" of existing small enterprises.
Growing evidence points toward the emergence of an entirely new generation
of highly targeted, niche-focused Web-centric SMBs. These firms not
only leverage new technology, but they take advantage of increasing
consumer willingness to make online purchases from small companies.
This combination has enabled entrepreneurs to develop innovative,
Web-based business models - and even includes the launch of companies
that have found ways to counter the long-standing decline of U.S.
manufacturing.
"The strategic use of technology is no longer just the domain of big
enterprises," says John Lee, Hostway's vice president of marketing.
"The rollout of new Web-delivered and Web-based services is accelerating.
And as it happened with many earlier technologies like personal computers,
desktop publishing, e-mail and e-commerce, innovative small businesses
are in the vanguard of taking advantage of the new capabilities."
However, despite SMBs' willingness to embrace new Web-powered tools,
the process of sorting through the explosion of technology options
can be overwhelming for many small enterprises.
"In the next 12 months, SMBs are going to see a lot more choices than
they have had before," says Mr. Lee. "The dramatic growth in the number
of telecommunications options for SMBs - including new wireless Internet
and voice-over-Internet (VoIP) services - is only the beginning. Numerous
other services - for example, online storage and backup, collaboration
tools, customer-relationship management, sales-force automation -
are rolling into the marketplace."
In contrast to the high-visibility dot-com developments that got so
much attention in the 1990s, today's under-the-radar SMB transformations
are largely sneaking up on the business arena. Drawing on internal
studies and on consumer survey-research that the company has commissioned,
Hostway has identified a set of early indicators that provide valuable
insights into this largely overlooked business transformation.
Among the key findings:
- Two technology-driven developments are turbo-charging the SMB
transformations: (1) extensive enhancement of the Internet and
hosting infrastructure that serves and empowers small-business
Web sites and (2) continuing penetration of broadband and wireless
internet, as well as enthusiastic consumer embrace of those capabilities.
- In addition, important shifts in consumer confidence in online
commerce are supporting the emergence of a new generation of highly
targeted, niche-focused Web-driven SMBs.
- The last 12 months have witnessed a fast-accelerating roll-out
and expansion of Web usage by SMBs - and especially among
firms in "visual sectors" (e.g., realtors, travel
agencies, photography studios, and video production firms) that
are rapidly developing new ways to leverage the capabilities of
the Web.
- However, despite the convergence of factors that have fueled
the widespread growth in SMB Websites and the new generation of
online-savvy SMBs, most small enterprises still are not aware
of the full range of useful business tools that are becoming available
to them via the Web.
In addition to providing more detailed discussion of these and related
findings, the new Hostway report also
- Points toward key trends and future developments to monitor
as the development of Web-enabled SMBs continues to unfold, and
- Presents profiles of three innovative SMBs that illustrate the
Stealth Revolution that is under way.
This report builds on Hostway's October 2004 report (available at
hostway.com/media/pressrelease/smb_briefing.pdf), which included discussion
of:
- Implications stemming from the sharp increase in the number
of Web domain registrations in 2004;
- Changing characteristics of SMB Websites;
- Surprising impact that U.S. broadband penetration is having
on overseas Web sites, and other international developments;
- Significant barriers that are keeping SMBs from taking full
advantage of their Websites;
- New Web services that are poised to leverage the expansion
of the Internet, the enhancements in hosting infrastructure, and
the major IT investments by SMBs.
"At most small businesses, the owners also wear the CIO hat,
and they are will be looking for help in successfully meeting their
technology challenges and taking advantage of their Web-enabled opportunities,"
says Mr. Lee. "At Hostway, we are developing an array of new
services that are at the appropriate scale and that are tied together
and packaged in ways that make sense for small enterprises."
About Hostway Corporation
Hostway Corporation provides Web hosting and managed services to more
than 300,000 customers worldwide. Hostway helps individuals, small
businesses and large enterprises achieve more value from state-of-the-art
Web-based technologies by reducing their complexity and cost. Founded
in 1998, Hostway is one of the five largest Web hosting companies
in the world with offices in North America (Chicago, Tampa and Vancouver),
Europe (London and Amsterdam), Asia (Seoul) and Australia (Sydney).
For more information about Hostway Corporation, please visit www.hostway.com
or call 1-888-290-5170.
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