Small Businesses Bet Big On IT

No one reading this has to be told how tough the economy is. Unemployment has crept into scary territory and companies continue to regroup, retrench and reduce their spending.

So it's fairly surprising to read the results of an IBM survey that show nearly half of all small and mid-sized businesses plan to continue spending a healthy amount of money on IT.

As reported by InternetNews.com:

The study, conducted between April 13 and May 20 on IBM's behalf by Opinion Research, examined 1,879 business decision makers around the world who were working at firms of between 100 and 1,000 employees.

The findings are an important indicator of future growth, IBM said.

"With companies of 500 or fewer employees generating 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually over the last decade, these small and medium businesses are one of the most likely engines to lead us back to growth," the company said in a statement.

While 53 percent of companies are focusing on containing costs, 47 percent of those surveyed said they are investing in the future by transforming the business, expanding it, or investing in customer relationships through technologies such as social media.

If the survey is accurate, it's a sign of hope for the economy. By which I don't mean that prosperity is around the corner because smaller businesses are getting on Twitter. Rather, many smaller companies correctly conclude that in a digital economy, you need to have your digital game in order. Hacking your IT budget because money's tight now poorly positions you for an eventual recovery.

Of course, how you spend your IT money is another matter altogether, which is where aligning tech with the business goals becomes paramount. But strategy is meaningless if you don't have the right tools or infrastructure to compete effectively. It seems as though a healthy number of SMBs know this.