(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — A new survey has found that two-thirds of manufacturing industry respondents say the recession has made them delay, halt or cancel IT projects.
The free IT Effectiveness Index (www.iteffectivenessindex.com), an ongoing survey of IT effectiveness for small and medium businesses, has released preliminary analysis of how the recession has impacted IT projects in various industries. Sponsored by a wide range of partners, the ITEI consortium provides an online benchmarking tool for small businesses to audit their IT effectiveness.
According to ITEI survey results released Tuesday, the manufacturing industry has been hit hardest, with 66 percent delaying, halting or cancelling IT projects, and a similar number reducing capital expenses during the past year. Half of manufacturing industry respondents said they are understaffed or critically understaffed in their IT operations. Manufacturing is followed by communications at 55 percent, wholesale at 52 percent and service providers at 48 percent.
The ITEI’s findings indicate that the computer industry is least affected among survey respondents, with only 33 percent of respondents indicating IT projects have been delayed or halted due to the recession. Also, only 24 percent of respondents in the computer industry said they were understaffed in IT.
“For SMBs, technology provides a key differentiator to support business growth,” said Steve Kahan, vice president of marketing and product management for web hosting provider The Planet (www.theplanet.com), which is also one of the consortium sponsors. “The results of the survey seem to indicate that capital expense budgets have been hit hard and adequate staffing of IT is a struggle in many industries.”
As capital expenditure on IT shrinks, however, technology trends such as Software as a Service and cloud computing offer businesses an alternative that provides similar IT solutions that can be delivered without traditional infrastructure.
“While we are conducting ongoing analysis of the survey results, it appears that those hit hardest by reductions in IT capital expenditures are also those industries that show a shortage of IT staff,” technology evangelist and SmallBizTechnology.com (www.smallbiztechnology.com) editor Ramon Ray said in a statement. “We are encouraging every small to medium size business to take the survey and compare their grade for IT effectiveness with others in their industry.”
In addition to The Planet and SmallBizTechnology.com (www.smallbiztechnology.com), the ITEI consortium includes Microsoft (www.microsoft.com), HostSearch (www.hostsearch.com), Kennesaw State University (www.kennesaw.edu), SMB Nation (www.smbnation.com), Small Business Trends (www.smallbiztrends.com), Small and Medium Business Technology Network (www.smbtn.org), and Yankee Group (www.yankeegroup.com).
The IT Effectiveness Index published a Mid-Year Report this past summer based on surveying hundreds of small businesses, indicating they are falling behind in IT effectiveness as economic pressures have forced nearly half of the respondents to reduce, delay or cancel critical IT investments. In January 2010, the ITEI Partners plans to publish the SMB IT Effectiveness Index Annual Report.
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