Appeal of cloud services driving small business adoption

Friday, June 03, 2011

The total value of the multi-service business gateway market could reach $1.1 billion by 2015, according to a report from In-Stat.

The Arizona-based research firm said that cloud services - which do not require the same kind of investment in on-site IT infrastructure demanded by traditional solutions - are the central reason for the rising value of MSBGs.

"The pace of new branch offices worldwide is expected to slow over the next five years, but this will be offset by acceleration in the establishment of small businesses," In-Stat vice president Norm Bogen said.

According to the company, MSBG shipments will top 1.8 million units in 2015, meaning that total revenues will not grow as quickly as unit sales. Cisco Systems is currently one of the leaders in the market, the researchers added.

Experts say that the growth in cloud services should also produce a similar increase in the need for VPN services, which are a good way to move sensitive data across the web without prying eyes seeing it.