Economic uncertainty is causing small and medium-sized enterprises
in the UK to either reduce IT budgets or defer decisions about IT
spending, according to a survey by research company Rhetorik.
Rhetorik found that 55% of SME IT directors questioned have reduced
their spending this year, and 41% said they will have to wait until
next year to see if plans for investment in IT will be
shelved.
"The findings show caution rather than slowdown," said Claire Cook,
marketing director at Rhetorik. "SMEs are concentrating on their
core support infrastructures such as implementing Fast Ethernet and
Giganet in their Lans as well as choosing technologies that will
make the most of their existing infrastructure such as VoIP and
Wireless Ethernet."
Surprisingly, 82% of the sample rejected the idea of using
application service providers or outsourcing their IT - services
that are usually associated with cost savings.