Small Business Spending on Computer Equipment and Services to Rise
Businesses have been getting the most out of their computer hardware investment with some owners holding onto servers and desktop PCs for up to 50 months. That’s a lifetime or two in computing technology so it’s no surprise that a significant percentage of small and medium (SMBs) size 
business owners are looking for new equipment now that the economic gloom seems to be lifting. A recent IT Management survey indicates the following purchase plans by SMBs:
- New desktop PCs 56%
- New laptops 55%
- New services 45%
- Printers 31%
- Network devices 27%
- Netbooks 13%
The investment won’t stop at hardware, either. Despite a difficult year for IT budgets – about 4 in 10 companies cut these budgets by an average of nearly 25% in 2009 – senior managers are expecting to sign contracts for more software services in 2010. Virtualization solutions remain a popular outsourced service. Companies are also signing contracts with ‘cloud computing’ vendors, especially for the following:
- Anti-spam 43%
- Hosted e-mail 25%
- Online backup 20%
As businesses begin to purchase more technology hardware and services, vendors will be increasing their advertising to improve market share.
[Source: Eddy, Nathan. Small Businesses to Invest in IT Resources, eweek.com, 9.1.09]
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