Small firms turn to P2P for next-gen comms

Peer-to-peer technology helping to level the playing field.

When it comes to embracing next-generation communication systems European small firms are catching up with their bigger rivals thanks to P2P technology.

Frost & Sullivan reported that the European peer-to-peer telephony markets enjoyed a 0.3 per cent penetration in 2006, and estimated that this will reach 3.6 per cent in 2012.

"The availability of large system capabilities at the price of small systems is incentive enough to gain interest from small enterprise stakeholders," said Frost & Sullivan industry analyst Shomik Banerjee.

"What remains to be demonstrated are the fundamentals pertaining to ease-of-use and maintenance."

Banerjee added that the sub-20 employee segment of the enterprise communication market is by far the largest in terms of number of businesses. Moreover, this segment has fallen far behind in the race to use the latest technologies.

However, although the market size and scope is huge, it is highly dispersed. In addition to the lack of a common buying behaviour, this is emphasising the importance of channel effectiveness in order to generate business.

"Far from large and small cities, a huge chunk of businesses are set up in areas that may not necessarily have electronics accessories stores," said Banerjee. "Supporting such businesses is bound to lead to high costs."

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