Your Business Future Is Online Services

Xero provides small businesses and their advisers with one, up to date, easy to use, instantly accessible set of accounts and business information. Latest research is predicting yet more staggering growth in broadband-enabled business, and with mobile broadband use also set to increase, if you’re not yet running your business using online services, you soon will be, according to Hamish Edwards, co-founder and UK MD of online accounting software product Xero. The numbers back him up. In June, Ericsson predicted that the number of mobile broadband users around the world will grow from 250

million to 2.2 billion in the next five years. In the same period the number of fixed-line broadband users throughout the world is expected to double from 350 million to 700 million.

At the same time leading UK broadband comparison site Top 10 Broadband predicted ‘free’ mobile broadband could be offered as early as next year. And Telecom industry analyst Berg Insight reported the number of mobile broadband enabled PC laptops is set to rise dramatically, from 8.4 million in 2007 to almost 50 million by 2013.

“There are massive implications here for the business software industry,” says Edwards. “Customers now want to access their files from anywhere without lugging lots of storage around. They want to be able to share data with colleagues across different physical locations. And they want to be sure they are looking at the latest, most up to date version, wherever they are. “Online services like Google Docs and Xero are the only way that software can meet these expectations. Right now, to some people they might seem like optional extras, but it won’t be long before they’re essentials that you can’t do without.” Xero provides small businesses and their advisers with one, up to date, easy to use, instantly accessible set of accounts and business information. Contact : Lucy Whittington, Xero, England, UK, 0800 085 3719, ukpress@xero.com