8 Percent and Holding Steady

A year ago, before the economy started going south, CIO Insight reported that midmarket IT spending was rising an average of 8.6%. Now, when some economists say they've slipped into a recession, spending is rising a mere 8.3%. In general, corporate managers at small and midsize businesses (SMB) are not quite as worried about IT spending as those at larger companies, but about two out of three SMB IT executives and managers foresee added pressure to cut costs in 2008. SMBs spend a smaller part of their IT budget on services and a larger share on IT staff. In addition, they are increasing spending on IT training by a bigger percentage than larger companies. Like their counterparts at larger companies, CIOs at SMBs are likely to say that consolidation, virtualization and replacement of legacy systems are the best ways to reduce IT costs.