SMBs still need direction over IT strategy

CompTIA survey reveals almost half those firms questioned plan to increase IT spend in the coming year

SMBs are planning to increase their IT spend despite facing budget constraints, according to the latest research from trade association CompTIA.

Three of the biggest headaches for smaller firms are tight budgets, followed by IT legacy systems and a lack of skills.

But despite monetary concerns, 49 per cent of firms questioned said they are planning to increase investment in IT to compete with larger organisations.

A total of 58 per cent of those surveyed said they are concerned about legacy systems, with 56 per cent claiming the difficulty of integration is a sticking point.

A further 51 per cent are concerned about the number of choices facing them over products and strategies, and 48 per cent said they felt they needed more detail on new technology.

Other findings include 39 per cent of SMBs admitting their support is done informally by employees who have another role as their primary function, mainly because it is viewed as an economical use of company resources.

Just 16 per cent of those questioned said they outsourced their IT support, with 36 per cent having their own formal IT department.

In total, 65 per cent of respondents said they were familiar or very familiar with managed services, leaving a significant proportion needing more education on the benefit of a managed services strategy.

Seth Robinson, director of technology analysis at CompTIA, said, “Small and medium [sized] enterprises increasingly rely on technology to compete with larger rivals. IT solution providers have a golden opportunity to demonstrate their value to SMBs and allow SMBs to focus on their main business goals.”