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Confidence in IT spending plans takes another hit, survey finds

CDW reports confidence among corporate IT decision makers has fallen since August

By Denise Dubie , Network World , 10/28/2008

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Confidence in the economy continues to wane for IT decision makers, who once again have scaled back their staffing and spending expectations for the coming months.

Results issued this week by CDW show that fewer IT leaders believe they will increase staff in the next six months and more think IT budgets will be cut over the same time. The technology solutions provider's most recent survey of 1,058 U.S. IT decision makers, conducted in September by independent polling firm Richard Day Research, confirms that the country's economic crisis is affecting corporate plans for IT in the coming months.

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For instance, 23% of those polled said they believed IT staff would increase in the next six months, down two percentage points from the August survey. Small-to-midsize business respondents, in particular, lowered their expectations. Four percent of small businesses said IT staffing would increase in the next six months, down from 7% in August. And 28% of midsize companies polled in August believed staffing would increase, but the more recent survey shows that number has dropped to 23%.

Some 51% of corporations surveyed said they believe IT budgets will increase in the next six months, an increase of one percentage point from August. Yet the number of those that said IT budgets will decrease in the next six months grew three percentage points since August to 11%. About 40% of those polled said they believed IT budgets would remain the same. Overall CDW says the corporate-confidence poll declined one point in its index since August.

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"This decline is likely a result of slowing tax revenues and tightening budgets, which is fueled by both the current economic climate and recent market events," said Mark Gambill, vice president at CDW and the company's executive responsible for market insights, in a press release. "However, the value organizations place on IT remains strong, and once the economic environment becomes more stable, we expect confidence to rise accordingly."

CDW sponsors the CDW IT Monitor survey to gauge confidence in the IT marketplace on a bimonthly basis and kicked off the polling process in December 2007.