27 Apr 2010

More mobile workers expected by firms

Companies could spend more on hosted SharePoint environments in the months to come as they face a need for more mobile workers to collaborate on projects.

A survey conducted by Microsoft has revealed that 74 per cent of small businesses currently expect their mobile workforce to grow by the end of the year.

The average increase anticipated is 19 per cent, increasing the need for companies to put in place effective collaboration environments such as hosted SharePoint installations.

Birger Steen, vice-president of small and medium business and distribution for the worldwide small and midmarket solutions and partners group at Microsoft, says: "Technology can buoy smaller businesses through turbulent times."

He adds that "which technologies small and medium-sized businesses choose can help determine the speed of their return to financial stability".

Microsoft claims that SharePoint's unified collaboration environment makes things easier for firms as end-users need only be trained on how to work with it once, rather than needing to retrain for each specific task that they carry out.