AccreditUK. Viretec defined a survey for the SME sector to understand attitudes toward eAdoption and ICT suppliers
Accredit UK and the National Computing Centre gained a valuable insight into the attitudes and behaviours of SMEs towards ICT providers and the provision of services, that guided the design of a new ICT Purchasing Guide for small businesses. Viretec's knowledge of the SME sector was invaluable in designing a survey that stimulated wide participation by a small business audience.
The Need
Accredit UK needed a better understanding of SMEs and their attitudes towards ICT in order to design a meaningful standard. As the UK's leading IT membership organisation, the National Computing Centre, which is heading up the Accredit UK project, sought external consultants with both the knowledge of SME sector and access to SMEs willing to offer time to support their project

"We were really impressed by the 98% interview hit rate, and the insights in the report exceeded our expectations for a survey of this size. We got more than we bargained for."
Vaughan Shayler
Director, Accredit UK
The Approach
Viretec Consulting, in partnership with The National B2B Centre, were selected to undertake the design and delivery of a suitable market survey. All parties collaborated on the design of a short multi-dimensional questionnaire that would provide the depth of understanding required, yet could be completed over the phone within 5-10 minutes. Viretec interviewed over 100 companies who participated in the survey, conducted during September 2006, and prepared the final report.

"The way the report was structured made it easy for us to re-present the findings as a conference paper. This added value was a surprise bonus for us."
Martin King-Turner
Centre Director
The Outcome
As a result, Accredit UK and associated marketing materials were refined and further work is planned to investigate ICT Buyer Behaviours, in both the public and voluntary sectors. So enlightening were the findings that a conference paper entitled "SME e-Business Support - The Paradoxes" was presented by The National B2B Centre at the European 11th eBSN Conference Workshop on e-Business Solutions for SMEs held in Oulu, Finland in December 2006.


What Next?
Viretec has extensive experience of working with small and medium sized businesses - we understand the SME sector and SME owner-managers. Contact us to find out how we can help you to engage effecively with an an SME audience on e-adoption or business support issues.