National Monitor
VERNON HILLS, Ill. — June 30, 2009 – Large and medium-size businesses are increasingly planning to invest in IT products and staff as confidence among IT decision makers begins returning to the corporate sector. However, earlier signs of IT investment among small businesses have slipped.
In the government sector, federal government IT decision makers are showing an even higher leap in confidence.
Sentiment remains stable across the broader IT marketplace, according to the latest CDW IT Monitor, with gains in some areas balanced by uncertainty among the small business and local government sectors. The overall CDW IT Monitor score across both corporate and government sectors remained flat at 69 for the third consecutive reading.
Signs of anticipated growth in investment that first appeared in the April CDW IT Monitor are now becoming much more visible. Eighty-three percent of medium-size businesses expect to purchase new software in the next six months and 28 percent of large businesses expect to hire additional staff in the next six months, both up five percentage points since April. Additionally, 52 percent of federal IT decision makers anticipate budget increases in the next six months, an increase of 17 percent since April and the largest leap in the government sector to date.
However, this rising sentiment is not shared by all sectors. After signs of increasing confidence earlier in the year, fewer small businesses and local government organizations anticipate budgets to improve. Only 21 percent of small business IT decision makers and 17 percent of local government IT decision makers expect IT budgets to increase in the next six months, down eight and six percentage points, respectively, since April.
"This downturn has not followed the path of previous ones, making it more difficult to predict the shape of the recovery," said Mark Gambill, the company's executive responsible for market insights. "But IT confidence has held steady for nearly four months, and we're now beginning to see signs of a patchy turnaround with medium and large businesses anticipating future growth."
"The unsteady nature of this turnaround is demonstrated by the slight decline in small business confidence. Larger companies have been aggressively managing costs as well through this period, but there comes a point when investments have to be made."
The CDW IT Monitor is based on an online survey of at least 1,000 IT decision makers from businesses of all sizes and all sectors of government. The overall IT Monitor score is composed of two sub-indices - the IT Growth Monitor, which measures future IT expectations, and the IT Value Monitor, which measures the value of IT in achieving organizational objectives. For more information about the mindset of IT decision makers please visit www.cdwitmonitor.com.
Additional findings from the June CDW IT Monitor:
| Expect Better Company Performance in the Next Six Months: | April 09 | June 09 |
| Small Businesses (0-99 Employees) |
48% | 52% |
| Medium-Size Businesses (100-999 Employees) |
53% | 60% |
| Large Businesses (1000+ Employees) |
50% | 61% |
About the CDW IT Monitor
The CDW IT Monitor was created by CDW Corporation, and research and analysis is conducted by independent polling firm Richard Day Research of Evanston, Ill. Decision makers are invited from two large national panels of IT decision makers built and maintained by E-Rewards and Survey Sampling International. Data reported in this release are based on a survey of 1,042 IT decision makers conducted between May 7 and May 13, 2009.
At the center of the CDW IT Monitor is an index number, which registered an initial benchmark reading of 69 in December 2007. Results are calculated on a scale of 0-100, with 100 indicating the highest level of confidence. Future readings of the CDW IT Monitor will continue to yield comparisons to previous scores, allowing for an interpretation of the direction of sentiment in the IT marketplace. The next CDW IT Monitor will be released in August 2009.
Data are weighted to ensure that CDW IT Monitor calculations closely represent the overall population of corporate and government employers in terms of size, based on the number of employees. Corporate data are weighted according to U.S. Economic Census data, and government data are weighted according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual survey of government employment. The margin of sampling error for a survey based on this many interviews is approximately +/-4 percentage points for the business sector, and +/-6 percentage points for government.
About CDW
CDW is a leading provider of technology solutions for business, government and education. Ranked No. 34 on Forbes’ list of America’s Largest Private Companies, CDW features dedicated account managers who help customers choose the right technology products and services to meet their needs. The company’s technology specialists offer expertise in designing customized solutions, while its advanced technology engineers can assist customers with the implementation and long-term management of those solutions. Areas of focus include notebooks, desktops, printers, servers and storage, unified communications, security, wireless, power and cooling, networking, software licensing and mobility solutions.
CDW was founded in 1984 and as of March 31, 2009 employed approximately 6,400 coworkers. In 2008, the company generated sales of $8.1 billion. For more information, visit CDW.com.
