October 22, 2001 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — A survey by Yankee Group (yankeegroup.com) and SBC (sbc.com) shows employees prefer company-provided DSL Internet line at home over casual Fridays and reserved parking. Three in four small businesses say high-speed Internet service has improved business productivity and nearly two in three say it has made them more competitive.
The survey results of Broadband Watch: A Study of the Small Business Marketare based on independent telephone interviews conducted by Yankee Group froma random sampling of 500 small businesses with SBC DSL High-Speed Internetservice. The Broadband Watch survey found that in today’s marketplace, smallbusinesses are using the super-fast Internet connection to take advantage ofbroadband-enabled applications in an effort to increase their bottom line.
“After upgrading to broadband, small businesses quickly recognize the returnon investment from high-speed DSL Internet service across all businessareas. As they begin to take advantage of new applications, the value oftheir high-speed service continues to increase,” said Mike Lauricella,program manager of the Yankee Group’s Small and Medium BusinessCommunications Research and Consulting practice.
The survey found that a broadband connection allows the Internet to become acore part of the business process for small businesses by increasingproductivity and improving communications. Among the findings:
68% of businesses say their broadband service has already delivered apositive return on investment. 56% of businesses view their DSL Internetservice as indispensable and vital to their business.
76% say that DSL Internet has improved business productivity. 70% saybroadband has improved customer service. 62% say that a broadband connectionalso enabled businesses to compete more effectively. 59% say DSL Internethas helped improve employee job satisfaction.
Of those businesses that switched from another type of online access to DSLInternet service, the number who now feel the Internet positively impactstheir business productivity increased 94%.
In this era of the broadband Internet, where greater speeds and moreapplications are becoming the norm, business customers are using DSLInternet service to communicate with customers, employees and vendors. 89%are sending/receiving e-mail with large attachments. 87% are conductingresearch and reading news online. 74% are purchasing goods and services overthe Internet.
With their broadband connection, businesses are becoming more sophisticatedin their Internet usage. They are now using the Internet for onlinescheduling/calendaring with employees and partners, real-time collaborativedocument editing, distance learning, online customer support, and onlinemarketing campaigns.
“Businesses are initially attracted to broadband capabilities because of theincredible speed, instantly available connection and immediate gains inproductivity,” said Ken Tysell, director of DSL product management for SBC.”Broadband Watch highlights the importance of high-speed Internet access totoday’s small business market and confirms that broadband capabilities offera competitive advantage by enabling online activities, such astelecommuting, distance learning, and virtual private networks.”
The Yankee Group forecasts that the number of DSL Internet subscribers willreach 4.5 million by the end of 2001 and will grow more than 50 percent to6.8 million subscribers by the end of 2002. According to the Yankee Group,the “killer application” for DSL will continue to be sending e-mails withlarge attachments. Yankee Group believes online procurement and customerservice applications, such as customized intranets for customers and CRMtools, will be the next set of applications to see wide spread marketadoption.
Once employees have broadband service at the office, they recognize thebenefits of communicating via a high-speed connection and want the sameservice at home. In fact, businesses recognize the great value in allowingemployees to telecommute since broadband enables telecommuters to be asproductive working from home. With DSL Internet service, the number ofbusinesses that allow telecommuting increased 105%.
