UK SMEs to up staff hiring

A quarter of UK small and medium enterprises (SMEs) plan to hire more staff next year, and three-quarters are considering introducing flexible working patterns to boost productivity, according to customer research from Orange, writes Network World.

Orange polled 2 200 of its SME customers and found that 26% plan to hire more staff in 2011 than they did in 2010. In addition, 76% predicted either a more prosperous year for their business or the "same level of success".

Also, three-quarters (74%) of SMEs are considering or plan to introduce flexible working options in 2011, citing staff efficiency as the main driver. Social media, business applications and mobile WiFi were top priorities for SMEs, showed the research.

SMEs are turning to cloud services and benefiting from the move, reports Information Week.

A Microsoft-sponsored survey, 'Cloud Computing as an Engine of Growth,' polled SMEs about the cloud and found that "26% see the cloud as a technology revolution. 29% see it as an opportunity for their IT to be more strategic. 29% feel that companies who embrace the cloud are innovative.

And 24% agree that the cloud provides capabilities not previously available, for example, letting them take advantage of enterprise-type capabilities that were not previously available to the [SME]," according to Josh Waldo, director of SME marketing at Microsoft.

According to research from IT analyst firm AMI-Partners, growth is forecast in the voice-over-Internet protocol (VOIP) market among small and medium enterprises, reveals eWeek.

More than 30% of small businesses and 50% of midsize businesses said VOIP technology will become critical to their business operations.

SME decision-makers say they see benefit from VOIP in improved staff productivity, streamlined dispersed communications and lower costs. "The last several years of the recession caused many SMEs to put new technology purchases on hold," says Karen Nielsen, senior consultant with AMI.