Techaisle research commissioned by Microsoft and Intel uncovers that the cost of up-keeping a PC which is older than four years, can be used to purchase at least two new Modern PCs
SINGAPORE: Microsoft and Intel recently unveiled new research from Techaisle, a leading global SMB IT market research and analyst organisation, which highlighted the opportunities that Asia Pacific’s Small/Medium Businesses (SMBs) have, by upgrading to modern devices at work.
The study, which surveyed 2,156 SMB organisations across Asia Pacific, found that the cost of keeping a PC more than four years old is US$2,736 per device — enough to replace the ageing hardware with two or more new PCs.
The study also revealed that a PC older than four years, is also 2.7 times more likely to undergo repairs, resulting in loss in productivity. 85% of ‘larger SMBs’, (with more than 500 employees), have PCs that are older than four years, compared to 60% in smaller SMBs employing less than 100 employees. This underscores the widespread use of older devices within SMBs in the region.
“PCs are the productive engines for most SMBs in the region, where organisations rely heavily on their devices for their day-to-day tasks. However, 7 in 10 SMBs surveyed have PCs that are older than four years, which significantly increases maintenance costs,” said Vice President, Consumer and Devices Sales, Asia, Microsoft, Bradley Hopkins. “With budget constraints being the number one IT challenge among SMBs today, business leaders should adopt a device modernisation strategy”.
The new study revealed that in the past year alone, as high as 67% of SMBs may have experienced PC security and data theft breaches, with only 15% of them actually reporting these attacks.
“SMBs constitute 98% of enterprises in the Asia Pacific region, and employ half of the workforce in the region yet many of them still have PCs older than four years old. We believe that by having them move to a modern PC powered by an Intel Core processor, they can unlock greater productivity for their business while reducing IT management time and costs,” said Managing Director, Sales and Marketing Group, Asia Pacific Japan Territory, Intel, Santhosh Viswanadan.
Respondents in the study identified their top business priorities as increasing profitability, business growth and improving workforce productivity. The study highlighted that SMBs are looking at IT as a response to address their business issues. The top IT priorities included investing in PCs, cloud solutions and security solutions.
For those who have already made the move to newer PCs, the study revealed that:
Sixty-nine per cent felt that they were better able to secure and protect their business data on newer PCs;
Sixty-five per cent agreed that it has helped reduce overall maintenance costs;
Sixty-three per cent saw improved efficiencies due to new experiences powered by cloud and mobility solutions, and
Sixty-two per cent agreed that a newer PC has made their staff more productive.
“By reducing the potential risk of cyber threats with a modern PC, SMBs can definitely improve their productivity and avoid downtime.”