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Europe behind the US in IT best parctice adoption

Is the EU in a position to achieve its i2010 goals? A recent report by the European Commission noted that "Europe is not investing in productivity enhancing ICT as much as the USA". The report also claimed that the situation is worse for SMBs than for enterprises. Comparing the data from two recent Quocirca studies underlines the problem and shows the price European SMBs are paying for this.
Author/s: Bob Tarzey , Clive Longbottom
Created: 01/09/2005
Filename: Europe_behind_US_in_SMB.pdf
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  • There are significant differences between the IT management practices of US SMBs and those in continental Europe's largest economies; Germany and France
    This is reflected at a number of levels, but one notable difference is that whilst all SMBs make extensive use of Microsoft operating system on both their PCs and servers, European SMBs are far more likely to be using older and, therefore, less secure versions.
  • French SMBs in particular, are less likely to have an expert managing IT
    Even when they do they devote less time to it. Whilst the German SMBs are closer to the USA in this respect they do not achieve a return in better practice as a result of it.
  • French and German SMBs alike are more likely to leave their IT infrastructure insecure than their US peers
    Around 60% of German and French SMBs have anti-virus installed as standard on their PCs compared with 80% in the US. They are also less diligent about monitoring their network security.
  • US SMBs are far more likely to have formal backup routines for PCs
    Only about 40% of French and German SMBs have formal back up routines for their PCs - the figure is over 80% for US SMBs. Only a small percentage of the European's PCs get backed up on a daily basis, while over half do in the USA.
  • French and German SMBs pay a price for this
    Their ability to function is more likely to be compromised, through hardware or network failure than their US peers and they are more likely to be the victims of malicious attacks.
  • This is not just an inconvenience, but can lead to poor governance which can leave businesses compromised in the eyes of auditors and regulators
    French and German SMBs were more likely to have lost data because their systems had malfunctioned since their last backup.
  • American SMBs should not be complacent
    Although generally speaking US SMBs showed better practices when managing their IT infrastructure, they too have room for improvement. Appendix A of this report provides a checklist for all SMBs seeking to improve the way they make their use of IT safe and secure to ensure their businesses get the value they require from their IT investments.