One year after the pandemic hit many small and medium-sized businesses hard, one new global survey shows 80 percent of these companies consider the ability to automate tasks and processes key to surviving the COVID-19 pandemic. 85 percent were more reliant than ever before on communication technologies, remote IT support, and security hardware and software.

The Xerox 'State and Fate of Small and Medium Business' survey conducted by Morning Consult polled 1,200 business decision makers from companies with 25 to 1,000 employees in the U.K., U.S and Canada.

Other key findings included:

• 82 percent say digitising paperwork is important to their survival
• 75 percent are more reliant on workflow technologies, compared with their pre-pandemic setups
• 88 percent view security software and hardware that protects business information as core to their longevity, with 75 percent likely to upgrade current solutions this year
• 65 percent said remote IT support was a substantial pain point - and 74 percent are likely to invest in better solutions this year

POSITIVE OUTLOOK
Survey respondents overall were - perhaps surprisingly - optimistic: almost two-thirds (64 percent) anticipate emerging from the pandemic stronger. 81 percent acknowledge the health crisis has made them more reliant on technology - and they clearly see that reliance continuing in order to support and secure a distributed workforce. Compared to last year, 75 percent have increased their technology budgets by an average of 34 percent.

"Small and medium businesses are the foundation of the economy and are critical for sustained economic growth," said Joanne Collins Smee (pictured), Chief Commercial, SMB and Channels Officer at Xerox. "They need technologies designed specifically for them with local service and support from experts who understand their unique business needs."

Xerox offers a suite of solutions targeted at SMBs that address key technology requirements for collaboration, communication, remote IT support, security, and automation. These include:

• Xerox Content Hub is a secure creative platform for distributed employees to independently access professional document templates, customise, and print locally or use digitally
• IT Services can manage, maintain and support a hybrid IT infrastructure, ensuring that security solutions map to SMBs' identified business risks
• Robotic process automation (RPA) deploys a bot workforce that increases productivity across key business processes such as customer billing, financial close, and accounts payable

The white paper 'The State and Fate of Small and Medium Business' is available for download at https://www.xerox.com/downloads/usa/en/small-business/white-paper/smb-innovation-weathering-the-pandemic-ENUS.pdf

More info: www.xerox.co.uk/en-gb/small-business