This report provides the latest insights from the SMB Technology Forecaster. It is an update of the previously published report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the small and medium-sized business (SMB) market. It reassesses and requantifies the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic will have on SMBs’ consumption of IT products and services in 2021.

We continue to forecast that SMBs' total spending on IT (and the growth of this spending) will return to pre-pandemic levels by 2022. Spending on collaboration and security solutions will grow by approximately 12% and 10%, respectively, because these services are essential to enable SMBs to support remote employees and business continuity.

The report includes:

• the latest business closure rates, unemployment rates and other macroeconomic factors that accurately reflect the quantitative impact of the pandemic
• an overview of the the impact on individual vertical industries.

This report will help you to:

• understand how your business may be affected by changes in SMB IT demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic
• identify where the business opportunities are
• gain insights into the latest SMB IT spending priorities
• recognise what you can do to support SMBs.

Insights from the July 2021 update of the SMB Technology Forecaster can be found here.