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JumpCloud’s SME IT Trends Report Q1 2025 has found that 61% of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) regard security as their biggest challenge in 2025. Forty-five per cent of surveyed organisations have suffered a cyber security attack, and bad actors are again favouring phishing in targeting these organisations, accounting for 53% of all attacks.
UK IT admins within SMEs are constantly under pressure to manage complex device environments, shadow IT risks, cyber security attacks, and the rapid rise of AI while trying to ensure that the user experience remains seamless.
The pace of change is relentless, with nearly 90% of UK IT admins worried about unauthorised apps and devices expanding their attack surface. Over half (60%) expressed concern that AI’s rapid advance will outpace their ability to secure against AI-specific threats. With IT sprawl overwhelming many teams, 83% of respondents call for a unified platform to better manage devices, identities and access to simplify their increasingly fragmented environment.
More than 900 respondents were surveyed from the UK, Australia and the USA, with 300 participants from the UK.
The survey found that even though security is a prominent business concern for UK organisations, nearly half (48%) are not implementing stronger security measures across their IT stack because these measures might result in a poorer user experience. Ironically, 42% of UK SMEs are not implementing stronger security measures because they already manage too many tools in their IT stack.
Tool sprawl is a persistent problem, with the number of organisations using between 11 and 15 tools to manage the employee lifecycle and all resources increasing to 19%. The number using between five and ten tools has also increased from 46% in Q3 2024 to 51% in Q1 2025.
Rajat Bhargava, co-founder and CEO of JumpCloud, said: “Clearly, IT professionals at UK SMEs face challenges on multiple levels. However, this time, we have seen three clear themes emerge: security threats continue to escalate at an alarming pace; AI adoption is also accelerating; and both are prompting UK businesses to turn to MSPs to implement more resilient and robust cyber security measures. For those organisations wanting to innovate while having the controls in place to safeguard their business, embracing a centralised, unified platform to manage an ever-growing complex environment will be critical in 2025.”
While concerns around AI and its power to outpace UK SME’s ability to protect against threats remains an issue for 60% of respondents, this percentage has decreased slightly in Q1 2025 compared to 64% who said this in Q3 2024.
Therefore, while UK organisations continue to approach AI’s implementation cautiously, it is increasingly seen as a force for good. The appetite for implementing AI initiatives has grown from 66% of those planning to do this in Q3 2024 to 75% in this report.
IT budgets have shot up. Sixty-eight per cent of UK SMEs expected budgets to rise in the last report, now 80% expect to have more budget in Q1 2025. Likewise, 76% of UK SMEs expect cyber security budgets to increase in the next 12 months and over half (52%) of UK SMEs plan to invest in cyber security tools and services in the next six months. This was higher than any other planned investment.
Interestingly, MSP adoption and investment in the next 12 months has increased significantly since the previous SME IT Trends report, from 67% in Q3 2024 to 79% in Q1 2025. In Q1 2025, more UK SMEs (31%) are using MSPs to completely manage their IT programme, including technology, process, and support, compared to 24% in Q3 2024.
