Growth of Small Business Fuels Tech Support Market

Last Updated: July 7th, 2014

A recent survey by Parks Associates has found that the Technical Support market for small businesses will grow to $20 billion by 2015, in large part due to the challenges posed by mobile technology and cloud services. The survey, which interviewed owners and managers at small and mid-sized businesses, said that these technological challenges will raise the value of tech consulting services as decision makers increasingly realize the importance of providing ongoing care and preventative maintenance for the computers, servers, and technologies that their businesses utilize.

Currently, server issues are what most often force small businesses to seek outside help. More than 35% of small businesses have used professional tech support for such issues, and the Parks Associates study notes that managers report losing 3.4 hours per month due to problems with a server. Coming in a close second is mobile technology, with about 3.2 hours lost per month. This number is expected to rise and surpass that of server troubles in the coming years, as businesses increasingly rely on mobile technologies such as tablets and smartphones. This is good news for tech support providers; not only has technology increased the number of devices that require care and maintenance, but small businesses also rely on these products more than ever before.

But tech support providers should not rest on their laurels.Technology companies that serve small businesses understand that they can strengthen their existing products, offer added services, and ultimately bring in more business by providing quality in-house product support. One company that does this well, but still has room for improvement, is InterNiche Technologies. InterNiche is a California-based supplier of embedded protocol software, device management software, and security modules. The company serves a range of businesses and a range of product applications, and the support it provides plays a key role in its success. Rather than simply develop and sell products, InterNiche offers the networking expertise, various resources, and support services necessary to attract the interest of those smaller businesses that use its technology. These support services, eligible to most customers, include access to the company’s software engineers and assistance with code integration.

But InterNiche, and many companies that take a similar approach, could further benefit from making tech support cheaper and more accessible. Currently, the company only offers support for a fee, and only for a limited time frame. A slight change in this policy could probably bring in more business and revenue. By making tech support free for the first year or so, small businesses have added incentive to use InterNiche products. Then, even if charges kick in after a year, a client who has already had a favorable experience with InterNiche’s tech support program is less likely to turn to a third party service for its future needs. In this manner, companies that supply small businesses can profit even further from the tech support boom.

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