Hard to believe, but according to research sponsored by Intel, that is featured on the ITPro website, some 38 per cent of IT decision-makers and 40 per cent of IT users still use fax machines on a daily basis.
Even given the research is sponsored by Intel, who clearly would like us all to make greater use of IT, the report has an uncomfortable ring of truth about it. Common sense dictates that when times are tough it is difficult to justify new spending, but it is also the case that when times are tough organisations’ need to find ways of becoming more efficient and flexible. 
Much of the new technology such as smartphones, tablet computers, cloud computing, etc can help bring about significant savings, particularly for SMEs.
Perhaps what this report tells us is that we overestimate the innovativeness of the vast majority of SMEs. Many SMEs will simply carry on doing things the way they’ve always done them. I suspect this has more than a little to do with the way we lionize entrepreneurs as committed, focused people ‘who know what they want’ and who will simply roar and growl until they get their way. Matters are not helped by SME entrepreneurs and managers who have over-committed to inflexible systems and technologies that have run their course, but who adopt a make-do-and-mend approach to ‘maximise’ these resources. Not only is it a case of diminishing returns but also it results in the continuation of head-in-the-sand working practises. While at first it might not be obvious, such approaches compromise the development of new and innovative approaches to opportunity, business and profitability.
SMEs and entrepreneurs need to stop believing in their own hype. Regardless of the fact that we are living through economically difficult and ferociously competitive times, the only game in town can only ever be to monitor and assess continuously the key drivers in your market place. These may be technology-driven, customer-driven, competitor-driven or a combination of factors. Whatever they are, it will be the SMEs that 
respond quickest to changing market conditions who will ensure they don’t fall to the ostrich tendency. So, if you don’t want to be a victim, get rid of your fax – literally or metaphorically – and set aside some time to explore the different ways in which you might take your business forward.
By way of a footnote, the IT industry has had a huge impact on the way we do business by making readily accessible market data and in making available any number of effective and dynamic communications channels. But where it has fallen down badly is with its poor understanding of the end-consumer, poor communication, and in over-hyping and over-pricing many of its products and services. As the ITPro report notes, the industry needs to do a much better job in communicating the key business benefits of what they offer.
