The SME sector is increasingly focusing on the cloud, and this is not without reason. The MKB Cloud Barometer 2015 shows that companies opting for online solutions grow faster than those that do not. This year, the research is being conducted for the first time globally among 2975 SMEs by research agency Pb7 on behalf of Exact and KPN. The Netherlands is not yet leading in cloud adoption but seems to be making significant progress. On average, companies using multiple cloud solutions have a revenue growth of 26 percent, compared to six percent for companies that do not. This is evident in all countries where the research was conducted. On average, revenue among SMEs increased by twelve percent.
The Netherlands making progress
The development is best seen in the United States, where companies using three or more cloud solutions stand out with a revenue growth of 32 percent, significantly above the global average. In our country, relatively less use is made of cloud services, but the difference in revenue growth between companies that do and do not use them is striking. Companies that intensively use the cloud saw their revenue increase by fourteen percent, compared to a growth of only two percent for companies that prefer to keep everything local.
Positive outlook
Dutch SMEs are optimistic about economic developments and expect to make the largest leap in revenue growth next year at 11 percent among all surveyed countries. Americans and Germans expect to continue leading in average revenue growth. Erik van der Meijden, CEO of Exact, sees in the results evidence that cloud adoption worldwide has a positive effect on business results. 'For three years, we have seen an upward trend in the use of cloud applications by SMEs. The ease of use and the ability to access business data anytime and anywhere are the main drivers.' Van der Meijden expects that in a few years, most companies, both large and small, will have made the switch to the cloud.
