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Demand for new products and services, including unified communications

Figure 9 below shows how respondents' thinking varies with company size - there is a pretty clear correlation between company size and the desire to simplify supply situations. Unsurprisingly, single-person companies are far less likely to see the need to move to a unified service, but through the SME sizes, the larger the company, the more likely it is that respondents will try to achieve it, despite apparently believing that no simple solution exists.

Figure 9

Which of the following best describes what you think about how your telephony, mobile and internet requirements are supplied

The next chart is positive again in regards to the opportunity for unified services; just over half - 51% - feel that a single supplier solution would be either more cost-effective, easier to manage, or both. A further 17% think it may cost more but would still be worth it for an easier life. This result would appear to be conclusive proof that single-supplier solutions would be attractive to this market, mainly because of the ease of management compared with the current multi-supplier world.

Figure 10

Which of the following best describes what you believe about single supplier solutions for all telephony, mobile and internet requirements:

Once again, there is a substantial difference in respondents' views the larger the company gets, though not as different as one might assume - around the same proportion of respondents across the entire company size range think that single-supplier solutions would be more cost-effective. As the company size increases, a steadily larger proportion sees reduced costs and easier management as important.

Figure 11

Which of the following best describes what you believe about single supplier solutions for all telephony, mobile and internet requirements?

Perhaps the most surprising result is that the smallest companies are most likely to feel that easier management is worth a potentially larger cost. This perhaps illustrates a bifurcation in the market between early-adopter single-person businesses, and the majority of peak- or late-adopters in that size range. This is quite likely, as buying decisions are taken by the business owner without a required consideration of other employees, and therefore is influenced entirely by that individual's beliefs and wants.

Of course, the situation isn't quite as simple as the chart above would appear; when asked what the most valuable situation regarding their expense on communications, 48% still felt that shaving costs is still the most important issue, but this still squares with earlier chart results regarding the single-supplier market opportunity. A similar number still believe that single-supplier would be cheaper, but a substantial minority - 31% are most interested in upredictability of expense. This is in line with other research carried out earlier this year by Bathwick that suggested that communications costs were amongst the most irritating for small businesses simply because of their unpredictability (particularly mobile telephony costs).