Recent Blog Posts

Uncertainty is the new certainty. As lockdowns ease across Europe, IT leaders are surveying the wreckage of their carefully planned pre-pandemic strategies. Nothing is what it was – according to ...

The Government Digital Service (GDS) has taken its fair share of criticism in recent years – including from Computer Weekly - and much of it justified. But there’s little doubt the team at GDS HQ ...

It’s easy to predict many of the pains that are going to hit business as the UK attempts to follow its neighbours in re-opening from lockdown. Businesses face a new and awkward world where social ...

MPs on the Treasury select committee have been doing everyone in IT a favour lately. Thanks to pressure from their investigations, we’ve had near-unprecedented access to the real stories of what ...

Halfway through its 2016/17 financial year, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) digital team had spent £60m over budget, a freedom of information (FoI) request submitted by Computer Weekly ...

The data and statistics that help to understand modern technology trends.

Large market research companies spend £600 per employee on telecom services. This is comparable with the UK norm. For smaller sized research firms, the expenditure is higher than the corresponding ...

Overall technical testing & analysis companies spend 20% less per employee on software development tools than all UK organisations. This extends to 30% for large enterprises. For smaller ...

Security & investigation companies with 1000+ employees spend the most of their IT & telecom budget on staff. Following close behind is outlay on computer services. Each of these accounts ...

Overall chemical manufacturing companies spend over £100 per employee on external application software products. The norm for the UK is half as much again. There is a stark difference in comparable ...

Large civil engineering companies devote 1.3% of their turnover on IT & telecom expenditure. This is half the UK norm. Smaller sized civil engineering concerns also commit less than the UK ...

Research & development companies have an expenditure of over £500 per employee on system software. This is more than four times that of the national average. The vast gulf in spend levels ...

Custom software spend per employee by auxiliary financial & insurance companies increases with size of organisation. The smallest concerns outlay over £200 whilst for the largest it is almost ...

Overall membership organisations have an outlay of £1,000 per employee on computer services. This is much the same as the UK norm. By size of organisation the spend is far smaller for large ...

Electricity & gas supply companies devote around £500m on external software. The largest category is application packages with nearly 40% of the expenditure. Next in line is custom software ...

Hardware expenditure by oil & other fuel companies is in excess of £600 per employee. That is twice the national norm. Analysis by size of organisation reveals a much higher multiple for ...

In the distributive trades sector, post & courier firms devote the largest proportion of their turnover to expenditure on IT & telecom. At some 3% this is half as much again as the next ...

Public administration organisations are the top spenders on system software with a commitment approaching £600m. Next in line are telecommunication companies with an expenditure of over £400m. ...

Management consultancy firms commit almost 5% of their turnover to IT & telecoms spend. The corresponding all UK value is 2%. For larger management consultancies the proportion is over 8% ...

Medium sized printing companies outspend all other similar sized manufacturing firms in their outlay on IT & telecom staff. At almost £600k per enterprise it is a third greater than next placed ...

Travel agents & tour operators spend £1,000 per employee on telecom services. This is twice the UK norm. Smaller travel business concerns outlay is around £1,400 which is twice the expenditure ...

Medium sized retailers with 100-999 staff commit £500 per employee on computer services. This is 25% more than their larger counterparts who invest £400. Both, however, have expenditures notably ...

Wholesalers' expenditure on software development tools is £40 per employee. This is half the national average. For smaller wholesale trading companies, the spend is comparable with the all UK ...

Companies supplying waste management services spend £50 per employee on customised software. This is notably less than the all UK value of £125. Analyses by size of organisation shows similar ...

Post & courier firms have an expenditure of £170 per employee on hardware. This is half the national average. For organisations with 1000+ staff the proportion is a third. With the remaining ...

External application software expenditure by the public administration sector amounts to over £700m. This is almost 50% more than that spent by telecommunications companies. Banking & finance ...

Architectural & engineering consultancy firms with more than 1000 staff spend over £30m on external software. Almost half of that expenditure is on application packages. The remaining three ...

Overall, telecommunications companies spend 11% of their turnover on IT & telecom. This is a factor of 6 greater than the all UK value. Large telecom firms commit 13% of their turnover whilst ...

Medium sized management consultancies typically have an expenditure of £1.5m on IT and telecom staff. They are the largest such spenders in the professional & technical industry segment ...

Large pharmaceutical manufacturing companies have an expenditure of £3,200 per employee on computer services. The corresponding all UK value is £1,500. Across all employee sizes the national outlay ...

General insurance firms commit over £300 per employee on system software. This is nearly 3 times that of the whole UK value. Mid sized general insurance companies have the largest outgoing at £500 ...

Legal services firms devote over 4% of their turnover on IT & telecom expenditure. This is more than twice the all UK average. The larger the legal firm the more it spends on IT & telecom ...

Larger air transport companies fall below the all UK values in their expenditure on development tools per employee. Overall air transport firms spend around £70 per staff member.

Accountancy firms commit £80 per employee on customised software. By organisation size the outlay is greater for smaller concerns. Indeed those values also exceed the corresponding UK norms.

Public administration's software outlay amounts to over £2bn. Application packages is the largest component with around a third of the spend. System software and custom software each absorb about a ...

There is little variation in application software spend per employee across different sized employment agencies. In addition the investment is much lower than the UK norm, varying by factors from ...

The very smallest printing companies dedicate almost £500 per employee on telecom services. This is the highest amount across all sizes. It mirrors the situation for all UK companies although the ...

Transport equipment manufacturers with 1000+ employees devote over half of their IT & telecom budget to computer services. IT & telecom staff is the next largest expenditure category ...

Medium sized education organisations outspend all others in terms of hardware outlay per employee. Apart from large education establishments, all education institutions have a higher hardware ...

Large banking & finance institutions' outgoings on IT & telecom staff is £4,000 per employee. This is marginally less than that for medium sized institutions. The lower figure for the ...

Providers of health services outside the NHS spend £400 per employee on computer services. This is less than half of that expended by all UK organisations. For both groupings expenditure increases ...

Large telecommunications firms typically outlay £90m each on telecom services which are used for their own business purposes. They constitute the highest spending sector among large organisations. ...

For real estate companies, IT & telecom spend as a proportion of turnover increases with size. The differential is mostly small with ratios ranging from 3.3% for those firms with 10-49 staff to ...

Medium sized computer programming & consultancy firms with 100-999 staff devote £600 per employee on system software. This is twice the amount by their larger counterparts and a factor of 5 ...

Application software package spend by the motor traders amounts to £60 per employee. This contrasts the whole UK equivalent of £170. Large motor trade firms have an expenditure of £85 per staff ...

Electronic manufacturers spend over £100 per employee on software development tools. This is 40% more than the whole UK value. Large electronic manufacturing firms invest £180 per staff member. ...

Web developers in their thirties earn on average £30k per annum in the UK. The highest rewards are for those working in London with a numeration of £35k. This is £5k more than the next best paid ...

IT managers in the North West of England typically earn £46k gross per annum. Analyses by age shows pay norms peak when managers reach middle age at around £50k. Once in their 60's the annual pay ...

Overall motor manufacturers under spend the UK norm for custom software expenditure per employee by 50%. Small motor manufacturing firms with 10-99 employees achieve parity whilst other sized ...

Large banking & finance institutions have an average outlay of £13m on hardware. The corresponding life insurance companies spend a third of that amount whilst for both auxiliary finance & ...

Large food manufacturing companies spend about £1m on software. This compares with the all UK equivalent of almost £3m. The differential is the greatest for development tools where the national ...

Large advertising companies with 1000+ staff have an IT & telecom expenditure which is 2.4% of their turnover. This is similar to the equivalent all UK organisation outlay. For smaller sized ...

Publishing houses have an expenditure of £2,000 per employee on IT & telecom staff. This is twice the average for all UK organisations. The difference extends to a factor of three for large ...

Civil engineering companies with 1000+ staff spend almost £2m each on telecom services. This is 70% more than corresponding outlay by buildings construction concerns and over twice as much as ...

Large information services companies have an outlay of £1,600 per employee on system software. This is ten times that spent by all large organisations in the UK. Comparison of corresponding medium ...

Film, radio & TV companies far outspend the rest of the UK on software development tools. Such media firms have an average spend of £400 per employee compared with a national norm of £80. For ...

Gambling & betting companies spend £450 per employee on application software packages. Medium sized firms have by far the highest expenditure at over £700. Outlay by large concerns is close to ...

Manufacturing companies employing 50-99 staff have an outlay of £3k per enterprise on custom software. The largest sector is beverages & tobacco with 3 times that value. Machinery & ...

Life insurance companies commit £1,500 per employee on hardware which is a factor of 4 higher than the average for the whole of UK. Smaller life firms make a greater investment in hardware than ...

Veterinary organisations spend around £180 per employee on external software. The largest spend is on custom software with £80 followed by system software at £50. By far the smallest amount is on ...

Paper manufacturers commit 1% of their turnover to IT & telecom. This is half the overall value for all UK concerns. For all organisation sizes the ratios are smaller for paper manufacturing ...

Transport support companies invest £900 per employee on computer services. This compares with £1,100 for all UK organisations. There is a greater disparity for large enterprises where the ...

Companies supporting head office activities spend around £600m on IT. Almost 40% of that expenditure is on computer services whilst just under a third is committed to software. IT & telecom ...

Large water supply companies spend some £350 per employee on software development tools. This is three times that for the corresponding all UK value. For smaller sized concerns the uplift factor is ...

Large personal services firms spend 2.4% of their turnover on IT products, services and staff. This is similar to the all UK value. For smaller sized organisations the ratio is consistently higher ...

Large telecom firms each spend on average £15m on system software. This is by far the highest investment made among large information & communication companies. Information services ...

Medium sized office & other business support companies employing 100-999 staff invest over £600 per employee on external application software. This is twice that spent by other firms in the ...

Banking & finance institutions with 100-999 employees typically spend £1.2m each on IT & telecom staff. This is a little ahead of life insurance and auxiliary financial & insurance ...

Research & development companies spend on IT & telecom as a ratio of turnover is twice that for the UK as a whole. Large R&D organisations devote lower proportions of their turnover on ...

Companies providing accommodation services have an outlay of £230 per employee on telecom services. For all UK organisations the figure is some £600. The smallest accommodation firms spend the most ...

It may be tempting to delegate cyber security strategy to IT, but to do so is to delegate responsibility.

Creative, arts & entertainment companies are forecast to grow their software spend by 7% in 2014. Development tools will be the fastest growing component at 11%. Slowest advancement will be ...

Firms which provide repair and installation of machinery typically spend £800 per employee on computer services. The all UK equivalent is £1,100. Across sizes of organisation the outlay is higher ...

Professional & technical companies employing 50-99 staff typically spend £32k on hardware. The largest outlay is by advertising firms with twice that amount. Next are research & development ...

Large buildings construction companies spend less on custom software per employee than smaller sized firms. This strongly contrasts the pattern for all UK organisations where the large ...

Spend on IT & telecoms by basic metals manufacturers is dominated by computer services with over 60% of total expenditure. The second largest budget component is IT & telecom staff with ...

Larger technical testing & analysis companies spend over 6% of their turnover on IT & telecom products and services. For smaller concerns it is in the region of 3 to 4%. In all cases it is ...

For all auxiliary financial & insurance companies the spend on system software per employee is some £400. This is 3 times that for all UK organisations. The distribution by size of organisation ...

Large firms in the computer industry typically spend £180m each on IT & telecom staff. The outlay for a large telecommunications company is £130m. For an information services provider the sum ...

Civil engineering companies typically spend £400 per employee on telecom services, falling well short of the all UK average of £600. For organisations employing 1000+ staff civil engineers have ...

Medium sized software publishers employing 100-999 staff are top spenders on development software tools with a typical outlay of almost £300k. Telecommunications companies are the next highest ...

Medium and large sized residential care and social work establishments spend about £40 per staff member on application packaged software. For smaller sized organisations, social workers have a ...

Rental & leasing companies with over 1000 staff spend around £60 per employee on custom software. This is considerably less than the £160 spent by all large UK organisations. For all other size ...

Overall, membership organisations spend 5% of their turnover on IT & telecom products and services. This is two and a half times that for all UK enterprises. For membership organisations the ...

These days, though, its hard to think of a good reason why organisations would want to manage their own email.

Buildings & landscape services companies spend £25m on software. The largest amount, some £10m, is devoted to application packages followed by £8m expenditure on customised software. System ...

This graph from Thomson Reuters shows the most popular integrated suite accountancy software used by accountancy firms

Wholesale trade companies spend £350 per employee on hardware. This is similar to the all UK value for all industry sectors. There are notable differences by size of organisation. Wholesale traders ...

Large electricity & gas supply companies spend one third of their IT & telecom budgets on external software. Just over a quarter is dedicated to IT & telecom staff with a similar amount ...

Printing companies with 50-99 employees devote 3% of their turnover on IT & telecoms. This is the largest portion for all manufacturing sectors with a 50-99 head count. Next in line are ...

Land transport companies spend less on computer services, across all employee bands, than their all UK counterparts. This is most marked for large organisations where land transport firms have half ...

Companies undertaking head office activities are expected to experience the fastest growth in system software spend during 2014. The growth is projected to be 15%. Close behind are gambling & ...

Medium sized business services companies have IT & telecom staff costs which vary considerably by sector. At the top end, management consultancies invest over £6k per employee whilst for ...

Mineral manufacturers spend £40 per employee on development software tools which is the same as for all UK manufacturers. There is a significant difference however when comparing the outgoings by ...

Travel agents & tour operators, as a sector, commit around 3% of their turnover on IT & telecoms. The proportion increases with size of organisation ranging from just under 2% for smaller ...

Application software packages purchases by specialised construction firms with 50+ staff are at a lower level than that for the construction sector overall. The latter additionally covers buildings ...

Overall sports & recreation organisations have an outlay of £30 per employee on custom software. This varies by size of organisation with medium sized concerns investing twice that amount ...

Food & beverage services companies typically spend over £400 per employee on IT & telecom staff, products and services. Telecom services and staff take the largest share, each costing some ...

Large chemical manufacturers spend around £2.5m on external software. Just over a £1m is outlaid on application packages. About half that amount goes on system software and likewise on customised ...

Hardware spend per employee for management consultancy firms peaks for those employing 50-99 staff. Notably the smallest expenditure ratio is for the largest sized consultancies. This contrasts the ...