National Monitor
VERNON HILLS, Ill. — March 4, 2009 – The majority of medium and large businesses believe that continued investment in information technology (IT) is an important priority according to the latest CDW IT Monitor. Data confirmed that most medium and large corporations expect to purchase new IT hardware in the next six months (78 percent and 82 percent, respectively).
"In today’s business environment, savvy organizations prioritize strategic IT investments as a way to increase market share and profitability," said CDW Vice President Mark Gambill, the company’s executive responsible for market insights. "This is particularly true in categories such as virtualization and security, which drive productivity and efficiency."
Despite the underlying importance of IT investment to the medium and large business sectors, overall confidence among all IT decision makers remained relatively flat as the latest reading of the CDW IT Monitor recorded a one-point decline to 69.
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.
The government sector also anticipates continued investment in IT. Eighty percent of federal government IT decision makers plan to purchase hardware in the next six months, as do 69 percent of state government IT decision makers. However, despite planned investment, state government IT decision makers are less optimistic than their federal government counterparts. The IT Monitor reading for the state government sector registered a five point decline to 63, trailing the federal government sector by eight points.
"State governments across the country are feeling the combined impact of decreased sales tax revenues and increased unemployment benefit payments," added Gambill. "It will be interesting to monitor this sector as the economic stimulus takes shape and the specific allocations to different states become clearer."
Additional findings from the February CDW IT Monitor:
| Small Business Sector (1-99 Employees) |
Medium Business Sector (100-999 Employees) |
Large Businesses (1,000+ Employees) |
|
| Do you plan to purchase new IT hardware in the next six months? (percent answering yes) | 32% ( 8%) |
78% ( 1%) |
82% (2%) |
| Do you plan to purchase new IT software in the next six months? (percent answering yes) | 47% (8%) |
78% (no change) | 87% (no change) |
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 1,055 IT decision makers conducted between Jan. 14 and Jan. 21, 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 April 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 Sept. 30, 2008 employed approximately 6,900 coworkers. In 2007, the company generated sales of $8.1 billion. For more information, visit CDW.com.
