In the study commissioned by security firm Trend Micro, SMEs are found to have spent approximately $52,100 on average over the past 12 months, and nearly a quarter of those businesses brought in help from external technology consultants and channel partners - a figure much larger than other countries around the world.

According to the study, small businesses with between 5 and 25 employees spent an average of $25,200 per year, while organisations between 26 and 50 staff had an average annual IT spend of $20,600 on all IT products and services. And, those organisations with 51 to 100 employees spent, on average, $77,300 on IT in the last year.

The Trend Micro study found that the way in which IT was managed across an organisation depended heavily on the size of the business, with smaller organisations more likely to manage IT simply on an ad hoc basis, and those with more employees more likely to have dedicated IT support:

•    35% of small businesses had one or more employees that are dedicated full-time to IT support, a figure most prevalent in small businesses with between 51 to 100 staff

•    Of those companies surveyed, 24% had one or more full-time employees to handle IT on a part-time basis, in conjunction with other work duties

•    11 percent of small businesses did not have a specific IT resource, either internally or externally, and said that work was done on an ad hoc basis. This approach was most prevalent in organisations with 5 to 25 employees.

According to Mark Sinclair, head of small and medium business at Trend Micro, many Australian small businesses struggle with IT spend and management on a daily basis.

“For small companies with only a few employees, we often find the small business owner is relied upon to manage IT themselves, which can lead to inefficiencies and increased security incidents.

“In those small businesses with more staff, it is more likely to find a one person IT department, but that IT resource is bogged down on day to day activity with little time or headspace for strategic IT planning.”

Sinclair believes that choosing the right IT partner can make an enormous difference for small businesses in terms of IT spend, management, efficiencies and security, and, he says, “Australian small businesses place such a heavy reliance on IT partners that such partners and consultants need to be aware of the latest products, technologies and threats. Small businesses trust their partners and expect them to be up to date with, and fully understand, all IT systems.”

The Trend Micro survey also found that nearly half (44%) of Australian small businesses surveyed preferred on-premise management, compared to nearly a quarter (23%) that said they would prefer hybrid-cloud management, and 18%who preferred a hosted IT management solution.