FINANCE
PR Newswire | January 10, 2024
According to new data revealed today by vcita, the business management platform for SMBs and the organizations that serve them, economic factors are dominating the concerns of SMBs in the new year, with 67% of SMBs citing the financial elements of their business to be their biggest worry. These findings underscore the pivotal role financial stability, and the technology that secures it, plays for small and medium-sized businesses navigating the business landscape in 2024.
As SMBs brace themselves for the challenges of 2024, economic elements loom large on their horizon. Cash flow, deemed a pressing concern by 25% of SMBs, stands alongside the equal worry of attracting new clients. Moreover, rising inflation is weighing on small business owners, with 17% citing it as a major concern. Reflecting this sentiment, they have an increasing demand for comprehensive financial tools, which have proven to be major contributors in the development of financial resilience and healthy cash flow management, with 38% expressing a preference for an all-in-one digital solution that encompasses billing, invoicing, payments, and accounting reports. In fact, 49% of SMBs are already using digital tools to automate the financial elements of their business. In addition, 31% of SMBs have indicated early adoption of AI technology, leveraging AI applications to gain insights and generate content for marketing and client communication. These statistics emphasize the growing reliance of SMBs on digital solutions to navigate the complex business terrain ahead.
"As economic headwinds intensify, the need for reliable digital tools becomes paramount for sustaining business resilience," said Itzik Levy, CEO and Founder of vcita. "SMBs are increasingly embracing digital solutions and recognizing the critical role they play in ensuring their adaptability and continued success in an ever-evolving market. We have been supporting the SMB community with digital solutions for over a decade, and are committed to continue expanding our platform, including the incorporation of AI technology, to facilitate the growing needs of the SMB segment."
In terms of willingness to spend their hard-earned dollars on these digital tools, 72% of SMBs are already spending a minimum of 1200 USD per year on digital tools with 58% spending between 1200-6000 USD every year. This highlights how SMBs are leveraging digital innovations as a means of navigating the complexities posed by business and financial uncertainties.
Additional findings include:
The State of AI: 31% of SMBs are already using AI in their business operations. For the 69% who are not using AI in their business, the main reasons are that they don't feel it would help their business (31%) and that they don't understand how to use AI (30%). The SMBs that are using AI saw a multitude of uses for the technology in their businesses from helping with pricing services and products based on competition (20%), to writing email and SMS campaigns (18%), to following up with clients (16%).
Multiple Digital Tools: As SMBs continue to navigate the intricate landscape of digital tools, a prevailing trend emerges – reliance on multiple tools to manage diverse business needs. 79% of SMBs are utilizing two or more digital tools, with a notable 13% juggling five or more tools to efficiently operate their ventures. However, amidst this multiplicity, there's a resounding desire for consolidation, with 90% of SMBs expressing interest in combining all the capabilities of their digital tools into just one tool.
Peer Recommendations Key: When it comes to choosing these tools, SMBs heavily rely on peer recommendations, with 49% valuing word of mouth from friends and fellow business owners. Google reviews also hold sway, influencing the decisions of 23% of SMBs seeking reliable digital solutions.
About vcita
vcita is an SMB tech company dedicated to helping small and medium businesses thrive in today's digital world by providing them with the tools to manage and grow their business. With vcita's solution, small businesses can manage all aspects of their day-to-day operations and client engagement including scheduling, billing, payment collection, client management, email and SMS marketing. inTandem by vcita is a platform designed to serve the needs of SMB service providers, offering a customizable, white-label, platform that allows organizations that serve SMBs to bring their clients all the essential vcita tools under their own brand. With inTandem, partners can deliver great service and value to their SMB customers and unlock new revenue streams, reduce churn, and increase customer loyalty. With hundreds of thousands of small business users worldwide and partnerships including marketing agencies, banks, financial service providers, telcos, MSPs, and fintechs, vcita delivers an innovative digital solution uniquely designed to serve the needs of SMBs and the companies that support them.
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TECHNOLOGY
Business Wire | January 29, 2024
Trellix, the cybersecurity company delivering the future of extended detection and response (XDR), today announced it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Small and Medium Business Competency, recognizing the company as an AWS Partner with a unique focus on small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
Achieving the AWS Small and Medium Business Competency differentiates Trellix as an AWS Partner, demonstrating proficiency and proven success in helping SMBs solve their business and technical problems. Trellix is equipped to handle these challenges with solutions designed around customers’ unique needs in mind, including consideration for SMB’s typical deployment models, level of IT capabilities and financing preferences, and local and industry requirements.
“Trellix is proud to achieve the AWS Small and Medium Business Competency,” said Jason Andrew, Chief Revenue Officer, Trellix. “Our team is dedicated to helping businesses of all sizes achieve their goals, and our combined offerings with AWS empower SMBs with the agility, support, and innovation needed to do so.”
AWS is enabling scalable, flexible, and cost-effective solutions from startups to global enterprises. To support the seamless integration and deployment of these solutions, the AWS Competency Program helps customers identify AWS Partners with deep industry experience and expertise.
Along with an extensive partner ecosystem, Trellix accelerates technology innovation through machine learning and automation to empower businesses to build cyber resilience and stay ahead of the evolving threat landscape. The AI-powered Trellix XDR Platform’s open architecture and broad set of native security controls integrates with over 500 third-party tools to create multi-vector, multi-vendor event correlation and context, enabling faster detection, investigation, and remediation of threats.
“We partnered with Trellix to explore new ways to automate investigations,” says Chuck Lerch, CXO Head of Cybersecurity, Cyberuptive. “In this groundbreaking work, we combined the Trellix XDR Platform’s rich data and investigative playbooks with large language models (LLMs) running on AWS to make comprehensive assessments of alerts. The results provide useful insights, demonstrating the value of focusing on security research instead of how to run an LLM at scale.”
About Trellix
Trellix is a global company redefining the future of cybersecurity and soulful work. The company’s open and native extended detection and response (XDR) platform helps organizations confronted by today’s most advanced threats gain confidence in the protection and resilience of their operations. Trellix, along with an extensive partner ecosystem, accelerates technology innovation through machine learning and automation to empower over 40,000 business and government customers with living security.
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SMALL BUSINESS ADVICE
GlobeNewswire | January 30, 2024
In today's digital landscape, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face substantial cyber risks. It has become imperative to protect businesses from cyber threats. The challenge of obtaining suitable and affordable coverage is eased with SMEs' access to cyber solutions from WTW, a leading global advisory, broking, and solutions company.
WTW's newest cyber solution is crafted to meet the unique needs of SMEs spanning industries in North America. Tailored for businesses with annual revenues under $50 million, including start-ups and pre-revenue accounts, this solution addresses historical challenges faced by SMEs in traditional underwriting processes that often favor larger enterprises. This has often left SMEs vulnerable due to limited access to affordable and robust coverage.
In response to those concerns, WTW has strategically partnered with leading cyber insurance carriers dedicated to serving the unique needs of SMEs. The tailored solution provides quick and easy access to competitive insurance quotes through self-service quoting platforms. WTW has also allocated dedicated underwriting staff to focus on the specific needs of SMEs and offers policyholder resources, including tools and support to implement and maintain robust cybersecurity measures.
"This moment signifies a transformative effort, dedicated to addressing the distinctive challenges SMEs face in the realm of cybersecurity. Through strategic partnerships with top-tier cyber insurance carriers and the delivery of resources, we assure SMEs access to affordable and comprehensive coverage. This initiative not only resolves concerns previously facing SMEs but also positions cybersecurity as an integral and manageable component of their business strategy and enterprise risk management," shared Jessica Klipphahn, NA Head of MM Cyber/E&O at WTW.
About WTW
At WTW, we provide data-driven, insight-led solutions in the areas of people, risk and capital. Leveraging the global view and local expertise of our colleagues serving 140 countries and markets, we help organizations sharpen their strategy, enhance organizational resilience, motivate their workforce and maximize performance.
Working shoulder to shoulder with our clients, we uncover opportunities for sustainable success—and provide perspective that moves you.
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