72% of SMEs say they would change ISP if their Internet connection became unreliable
Zen Internet, one of the UK’s leading Internet Service Providers (ISPs), today released the findings from an independent survey carried out by Shape the Future Limited.
Over 1,000 Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) responded to the independent survey which was carried out between September and October to identify and rate SMEs’ selection criteria when looking for an ISP, together with their motivations for changing provider.
An important decisive factor for SMEs is the level of support provided by ISPs. 85% stated that the level of support was the most important criteria when choosing an ISP and the highest number of respondents, 80%, considers UK support to be very important.
Businesses however change ISP infrequently. Just over half of those asked, 55.2% were happy with their current supplier and were unlikely to change, 68% had not changed ISP in the last year and only 12.7% are considering changing ISP at present.
When they do, it’s mainly when there are issues with reliability, quality of service, cost or for higher speeds. It was found that 72% of SMEs said they would change provider because of unreliable connection, but note only 40% would change to save money. 98% of SMEs consider reliable Internet access to be critical to the needs of their business.
70.4% of SMEs thought it was important that their ISP was business orientated, as 80% use the web to locate suppliers and 76% use it for purchasing activities.
Steve Proctor, Product Manager, Broadband said: “SMEs have very different needs from Consumers. If a business has internet reliability issues, it costs them business, revenue and reputation.”
“We are committed to providing our customers with the best ISP service in the UK and to do this our customers expect excellent support as well as a reliable service.”
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, quotes that there were an estimated 4.7m private sector companies in the UK at the start of 2007, employing an estimated 22.7m people with a combined annual turnover of £2,800bn.
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Note to Editor:
The independent survey was conducted by Shape the Future Limited, online over a 6 week period between 4 September and 10 October 2008. Email invitations were sent to a cross section of UK SMEs across the country.
1,101 organisations participated in the survey, which was hosted on Shape-the-Future’s servers using the company’s proprietary software.
About Zen Internet
Zen Internet was established in 1995 as one of the first ISPs (Internet Services Providers) in the UK and is still independently owned. Zen provides a range of high quality Internet services to the business and home user. These include Broadband, Leased Lines, IP VPN, Voice, Managed Network Security Firewalls, Online Data Backup, Hosting and Web Design. All of these services are supported by a highly robust and resilient network and excellent technical support and customer service.
So far this year Zen has won Which? Best Broadband and PC Pro Best Broadband ISP for the fifth year running as well as receiving a highly commended for PC Pro Best Web Host. Zen has also been awarded North West Business of the Year by the British Chamber of Commerce.
Shape-the-Future is a market research company based in East Sussex. The company provides a range of survey services to clients around the world, using a full range of methodologies, including online, telephone and face to face, for both quantitative and qualitative studies.
The company has particular expertise on online research, using its proprietary software. The company’s clients include a wide range of organisations, including start ups and established companies in business to business, well known consumer brands, local government and quangos.
