• by May 11, 2004

Small- and medium-sized businesses consult online resources throughout the technology purchase process, according to research by Yahoo! and Grey Global Group's Grey, San Francisco. Executives and other personnel within small- and medium-sized businesses are on the Web for information-gathering and research purposes for an average of 110 minutes per day, consulting the 'Net more than TV, radio, magazines, magazines, or newspapers. In fact, 34 percent visit technology vendor Web sites every day, and 59 percent use search engines on a daily basis.

Small- and medium-sized businesses represent a $75 billion technology market. They often lack fully staffed information technology (IT) departments. In fact, the research found that of companies with less than 50 employees, only one-third have IT resources, while half of companies with 50-100 employees have such expertise. In medium-sized companies ranging from 100 to 1,000 people, 90 percent have a dedicated IT resource or staff.

"Marketers often underestimate the importance of technology in these small and medium businesses--there's more opportunity there than many people think," said Elizabeth Harz, category development officer-technology, Yahoo!

Harz says the research points to the fact that the Web is "really the most valued resource throughout the buying process" for pricing, specifications, and purchase channels, whether online or offline.

Among the key findings of the research:

*Of the small- and medium-sized businesspeople polled, 88 percent said it was important to keep up with the latest tech trends.

*90 percent of those polled said that "reliability" was critical when making a tech purchase; 83 percent cited "high quality" as a key factor; and 79 percent said a product has to be "trustworthy" in order for them to consider it.

"Marketers need to learn how to craft the messages for this market," Harz says. Marketers must show that their products are scalable and reliable, and that good customer service is forthcoming.

The quantitative and qualitative research was conducted online and offline by tech researcher IDC.

"Our main takeaway from the research is that online is the most valuable for tech buyers in small- and medium-size companies," Harz says, adding that at times, this group is risk-averse: "They want to make sure their investments pay off. There's no margin for error."