SMEs set to radically increase IT services in 2014
Up to 70% of SMEs in the UK expect to pour more money into IT services in 2014, according to the latest batch of independent research.
Data centre and communications specialist Node4 surveyed 250 IT decision-makers, with one in ten predicting a budget rise of more than 10% for IT services.
Meanwhile, only 5% anticipated a drop in budget as the state of the UK economy is prompting a return to IT purchasing.
Aiming for better performance
Furthermore, 80% of those questioned expect their businesses to perform better in 2014 than in previous years and SMEs are considering how IT could benefit their businesses.
This could be in terms of growth or via restructuring methods that ultimately mean savings can be made elsewhere in the business.
More than a third of respondents admitted to having concerns regarding the limitations of their current IT equipment, while 52% said a failure in their systems could pose a serious threat to their business.
Paul Bryce, Business development director at Node4, said that IT budgets were one of the first casualties of the recession, with many companies only changing systems when they had to.
The suggestions from the company are that the IT sector expects a similar situation as that predicted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, whereby the economy will continue to steadily grow.
This is seeing increased spending in many sectors as SME leaders attempt to take advantage of the economic conditions.
Getting smarter in the circumstances
The recession also forced many IT managers and directors to become more savvy in their approach, while other companies sought corporate recovery expertise to help ease financial worries.
IT solutions can help with various aspects of business that can encourage greater levels of custom – either through marketing or advertising, or even via more advanced payment methods.
Around 20% of those businesses questioned also said they planned to move their IT services to the cloud. This is designed to enable the businesses in question to become increasingly mobile in their approach.
By Phil Smith