Less Than 50% of South African SMEs Use Cloud Applications and Simple CRM

LONDON, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent survey conducted by AdvanceNet – http://www.advancenet.co.za – Africa's leading simple CRM provider, has revealed that half as many South African SMEs use Cloud CRM systems compared with the rest of the world. The Survey, carried out in conjunction with Really Simple Systems – http://www.reallysimplesystems.com – one of the world's largest web-based CRM vendors, showed that Cloud CRM systems only account for 15 percent of the cloud applications used by South African SMEs. The survey questioned SME business owners, directors, sales, marketing and IT managers, on their views of Cloud Applications and the reliability of the products currently available in the market, and then compared the results with similar global surveys.

From a sample of 272 respondents, primarily from small and medium-sized organisations with less than 250 employees, 53 percent reported increased confidence in Cloud applications in the last 12 months. This is mirrored by the 56 percent who agreed that Cloud applications have been made a more attractive proposition by the current state of the economy.

Phil Hemsley, managing director of AdvanceNet, adds, "Although this survey shows that African companies are more cautious about Cloud applications than their international counterparts, we believe that the same advantages of ease of use, rapid implementation and low cost will drive user adoption of simple CRM over the next year."

The results of this survey, coupled with findings from web-based CRM provider Really Simple Systems' previous global survey, have together shown a similarity in responses covering two main factors in relation to Cloud systems. Respondents from both surveys agreed that Cloud systems require less IT support and that almost all SMEs would be spending as much, if not more on IT in the coming 12 months.

In South Africa, Cloud-based systems are less trusted with 40 percent more SMEs believing they were unreliable and some 37 percent of respondents considering that their data was less secure with Cloud applications. Furthermore only 34 percent consider Cloud applications to be better value when compared to the 43 percent shown in the global survey.

Globally, Cloud CRM Systems have almost completely caught up with in-house CRM for SMEs, with 41 percent of respondents now using web-based CRM as opposed to 42 percent using in-house CRM. 58 percent of South Africans SMEs, however, are using in-house systems compared with just 15 percent using cloud-based applications.

The number of respondents not using any CRM system in South Africa stands at 30.7 percent, twice as high when compared with the rest of the world. Hemsley adds, "Although there are still a lot of SMEs yet to realise the benefits of a simple CRM system, I do not think this should be of particular concern to SME vendors looking to operate in the South African Market. We have seen interest pick up markedly in the last couple of years and I look forward to seeing the results of this survey when we run it again in a year's time."

Finally, the research showed that 50 percent of those questioned planned to spend more on IT in the next 12 months than they had done over the last 12 months, compared with 37 percent in the rest of the world. John Paterson, CEO of Really Simple Systems, concludes, "It is encouraging to see that SMEs in South Africa see the value of investing in IT to move the company forward, despite the economic instability that has affected spend on business resources in the last few years."

About AdvanceNet

AdvanceNet is Africa's leading IT solutions provider delivering Infrastructure Solutions, Financial Management Solutions, Customer Relationship Management Solutions, Performance Management Solutions and Mobility Management Solutions. In business for over 20 years, AdvanceNet has developed into a mature, multi-faceted company offering sophisticated business solutions throughout Africa. This ability to deliver measurable business value is what makes AdvanceNet's offering more than simply a comprehensive suite of excellent software, hardware and network infrastructure products.

About Really Simple Systems

Really Simple Systems Hosted CRM is aimed at small and medium sized organisations with between 5 and 200 people who want a simple CRM sales, marketing and support system. The Cloud CRM Systems model is particularly suitable for companies with multiple locations and sales people who work remotely or at home. Really Simple Systems, nominated for the 2010 Software Satisfaction Award and winner of the award in 2008, is the largest United Kingdom provider of web-based CRM systems with offices in the UK, North America and Australia. Users include the Royal Academy of Arts, the British Library, the Red Cross, NHS and the Department of Health as well as many small and medium sized companies.

SOURCE AdvanceNet