Small business should not neglect IT training, says BT Business MD

17:00 26th November 2008

The managing director of BT Business has warned small businesses not to neglect IT training in the face of an economic downturn.

Writing in the Financial Times, Bill Murphy states SMEs may be tempted to squeeze their IT budget in an effort to cut costs but in fact this could be counter-productive.

Citing the example of flexible working as a successful practice among BT employees, he described how 80,000 workers are able to carry out their duties remotely after receiving basic IT training.

Mr Murphy explained in the newspaper: "[Although] 62 per cent of small business managers claim to offer their employees some form of flexible working, they feel they lack the IT skills and training to exploit properly their existing technology and therefore achieve the most advanced, or 'third generation', of flexible working."

He added that the problem was a lack of IT training which prevented small businesses from exploiting the latest technological advances, therefore limiting their competitive edge.

According to a survey by KPMG, businesses in the UK lose £3.5 billion every year by not making full use of IT capabilities.