SMBs in Vietnam to spend US$1.4B on ICT this year 19-JAN-2008 Intellasia | Business Wire (press release) Jan 19, 2008 - 7:00:00 AM Small and medium businesses (SMBs or companies with up to 999 employees) in Vietnam are on track to spend more than US$1.4 billion on information and communications technology (ICT) in 2008, up some 11% over 2007, buoyed by the country's blistering economic growth and strong push to increase productivity, according to the latest study by New York-based Access Markets International (AMI) Partners, Inc.
"Small businesses (SBs, or companies with up to 99 employees) will account for more than 75% of this spending, with the manufacturing industry driving almost 45% of total ICT spending," says James Cheng, Singapore-based SMB Research manager at AMI-Partners. "Basic computing hardware in the form of desktop and notebook PCs will continue to dominate Vietnam SMBs' spending this year. However, internet, storage and security spending is likely to also grow at a fast clip."
AMI's survey reveals that PC penetration among Vietnam-based SMBs was slightly above 50% in 2007. MBs are set to increase their adoption of mobility computing products such as notebook PCs this year. "Indeed, notebook spending among Vietnam-based MBs is likely to hit US$19 million this year, up 16% over 2007," Cheng says. "This is due to a rise in mobile employees. Up to 71% of MBs said in AMI surveys that they had a mobile workforce and want to increase the number of mobile employees in the future. This trend will ensure the continued rise in notebook spending by Vietnam MBs."
MBs (medium businesses, or companies with 100 to 999 employees) in Vietnam invested about US$199 million in 2007 on computing hardware alone. Though spending on basic computing infrastructure will continue to dominate the bulk of IT spend this year, strong growth in areas such as the internet, storage and security will be evident. More MBs will require higher bandwidth to boost collaboration among employees, especially for mobile employees who need to stay connected while out of the office.
Increasing amounts of data will continue to strain existing storage infrastructures. Hence, MBs may opt for storage management software to optimise current storage space. With increasing security threats on the horison, there will be a continued focus on security to protect electronic data against virus attacks and sabotage.
"While investments in basic infrastructure will continue, the investment priorities for SMBs in the next 12 months will centre on increasing bandwidth, improving storage and security capabilities to prepare for their next phase of organisation growth," says Cheng. "This trend presents excellent business opportunities for channel partners to offer computing support, development and integration services in areas like storage and security."
Vietnam is expected to continue its strong economic growth in 2008 and MBs are likely to be the direct beneficiaries. MBs will invest more in higher-end IT infrastructure to increase employee productivity and ensure better competitiveness. With Vietnam only at the beginning of an economic boom, IT vendors will do well to focus on this country and listen to the requirements of SMBs. Vietnam could very well prove to be their fastest growing market in the next few years.
