A study by Compass Intelligence ranks IBM, Salesforce.com and 37signals among companies that exemplify today's best practices in providing a meaningful, relevant online experience to Small and Mid-sized Business (SMB) decisionmakers. "The Web is a viable platform through which to engage SMB decisionmakers meaningfully and is one of the key channels through which these customers currently inform their ICT purchase decisions, said Kneko Burney, president of Compass Intelligence.

"What's more, SMB decision-makers are looking to the Web as a means to further engage with customers, suppliers, key vendors, partners, each other, experts and more. As such, vendors hoping to tap into the massive SMB market opportunity, worth more than $289 Billion in ICT spending in the US, will need to invest in Web strategies that do more than just drive transactions, but that also work to build relationships," continued Ms. Burney.

Out of 40 tech and non-tech vendors analyzed in the Compass Intelligence study, the top 10 vendors winning the SMB online experience race (rankings in order):

• IBM
• Microsoft
• Cisco
• AT&T
• Salesforce.com
• HP
• Dell
• Intuit
• 37signals
• Verizon

Other highlights of the study results include:

• IBM provides a rich and consistent experience for customers online, with portals for both Small and Mid-sized business customers tailored to meet each segment’s individual needs.
• Microsoft’s powerful Small Business resources combined with a variety of targeted learning-based tools set its experience apart.
• Cisco takes a more non-nonsense approach and focuses on putting products, tools, and information into context with business needs.
• AT&T also leverages a powerful Small Business experience, which is built to serve up tailored content for each user based on their profile.
• Salesforce.com stands out with regard to providing a separate online experience for existing customers, which is built around personal interactions with Salesforce.com experts and with each other.

About the study

The Compass Intelligence report, "From One to Many: Exploring the Best Practices of Experience Strategies Targeting Small & Mid-sized Business Customers Online", is based on extensive research into key best practices with regard to online relationship building with SMB decision-makers at the beginning of the second quarter of 2007. This research, part of the firm’s Customer Experience Model practice, included analysis of the websites of 40 vendors, primary research with more than 540 SMB decision-makers and briefings with several of the vendors reviewed in the research.

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