(29-Sept-2011) SMBs who survived the recession are now wondering if we're headed for another dip into recession territory, or how viable their business will be over the next few years. But the Canadian market is, generally speaking, fairly healthy, with plenty of growth opportunities - both for SMBs to improve their productivity, and for resellers to help them get there.
In Canada, the SMB market overall is healthy, since the economic uncertainty hanging over the world has had a greater direct impact on the U.S. and Europe, said Paul Edwards, director of research for Info-Tech Research Group. “That being said, Canadian SMBs in specific industries - notably the manufacturing and resource sectors - have been negatively impacted by the high Canadian dollar against the U.S. currency.” According to Industry Canada, Canadian business bankruptcies have been on the decline since the fallout from the recession of 2008, which indicates at least a growing stability in the market.
“The continued health of the SMB market in Canada will be determined by how long global economic uncertainty remains,” said Edwards. “The longer it lasts, the more it eats into consumer confidence, thereby negatively impacting the ability of all SMBs to sell their products and services, and by extension impacting their ICT budgets.”