Security and New Technology Upgrades a Challenge for Small Business Owners According to Time Warner Cable Business Class Small Business Survey

NEW YORK, May 4, 2015 /3BL Media/ – Time Warner Cable Business Class (TWCBC) today announced the results from their second annual small business technology survey in conjunction with the kickoff of National Small Business Week. Through this survey, TWCBC has continued its long history of helping small businesses understand and meet the challenges that they face in growing their business, staying competitive in their local markets and understanding new technologies that meet the increasing demands of today’s consumer.

The second annual Small Business Technology survey was focused on understanding the challenges business owners are facing when it comes to adopting new technologies, network security and staying connected with their customers in today’s highly competitive market.

"Leveraging new technologies by small businesses is critical for their ultimate success," said Maureen Link, Group Vice President Small Business, Time Warner Cable Business Class. "Small business owners are being stretched and challenged to meet the growing demands of today’s consumer. Modern technology deployments and services allow them to provide a memorable experience while maintaining the trust and business of customers. Our latest survey has also shown that small business owners are focused on keeping their doors open and growing their business, not technology. We need to continue to engage with our customers on the solutions out there that will help enable them to exceed their business goals.”

The TWCBC-sponsored survey revealed three main areas of focus for today’s small business owners:

• Security remains a major area of focus and continued education is needed to help small business owners understand the offerings and benefits of outsourced security solutions.
  
  • 27 percent of survey respondents stated that securing their network from external threats is their biggest technology challenge today.
  • 33 percent of small business owners currently manage their own network security solutions while 40 percent use a managed security network solution from a third-party.
  • 27 percent of small business owners do not have a security solution in place.

• Social Media continues to be a growth opportunity for small business owners when it comes to connecting with customers and prospective customers.
  
  • Facebook is the social platform of choice for small business owners with 60 percent of respondents using it regularly to promote their business and connect with customers. LinkedIn is the second most used platform at 28 percent.
  • 60 percent of small business owners use social media to attract new customers to their business.
  • 63 percent of small business owners do not use social media in order to have a better understanding of their customers.

• Wi-Fi for customers can provide higher rates of customer satisfaction when offered by small businesses, yet most small businesses do not provide free Wi-Fi to their customers today.
  
  • 68 percent of surveyed business owners currently do not offer Wi-Fi to their customers.
  • 74 percent of small businesses that offer Wi-Fi see business benefits from a higher rate of customer satisfaction, repeat business and more time and revenue spent within their business.

• Other technology challenges facing small business owners today include:
  
  • 32 percent find that keeping up with the latest technology and upgrade trends is the greatest challenge in their business.
  • Slow internet was identified by 27 percent of respondents as a key challenge facing them today.
  • 26 percent of small business owners have a tough time dealing with securely backing up their data.

“As the world and consumers become more connected, businesses need to continue to understand and implement technology that makes their business more secure, efficient and attractive to customers,” said Brian Allen, GVP Chief Security Officer Legal and Security, Time Warner Cable Business Class. “Time Warner Cable Business Class is committed to helping small businesses provide a secure environment for transactions and for new and innovative ways to connect with their customers. The stats from our latest survey show that small business owners are focused on their core business while we need to continue to educate and engage them on cost effective ways to protect their business from the growing threat of security attacks and technology disruptions.”

Learn more on the Time Warner Cable blog Untangled.  

About Time Warner Cable Business Services
Time Warner Cable Business Services, a division of Time Warner Cable, offers a full complement of business communications tools to small, medium and enterprise-sized companies under its Time Warner Cable Business Class brand. Its Internet, voice, television, network and cloud services are enhanced by award-winning customer service and local support teams. Through its NaviSite subsidiary, Time Warner Cable Business Services also offers scalable managed services, including application services, enterprise hosting, and managed cloud services primarily in the U.S. and U.K. Time Warner Cable Business Services, founded in 1998, serves approximately 625,000 business customers throughout Time Warner Cable's service areas. For more information, visit http://business.twc.com.

About the Survey
Time Warner Cable Business Class conducted an online survey of 400 small business owners across the U.S. through Redshift Research. The survey, conducted in April 2015, asked a series of questions about how small businesses are using technology.