National Monitor
TECH INDUSTRY BUDGETS AND STAFFING
VERNON HILLS, Ill. — September 10, 2008 – IT decision makers remain conservative about future growth expectations but anticipate change after the upcoming presidential election. The latest CDW IT Monitor, a bimonthly indicator of the direction, momentum and mindset of the IT marketplace, registered an overall reading of 73, holding steady with the June 2008 score. In the midst of this cautious outlook, four out of 10 IT decision makers say the upcoming presidential election will impact their businesses in areas such as budgets and staffing.
“During this uncertain economy, IT decision makers have remained hesitant for the past six months with regard to their level of confidence in the marketplace,” said CDW Vice President Mark Gambill, the company’s executive responsible for market insights. “While expectations for growth have remained modest across most sectors, it’s clear that the upcoming presidential election is an important variable in how the industry moves forward with budgets, staffing and purchasing decisions.”
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.
According to the CDW IT Monitor, the election will have the greatest impact on financial decisions in the IT marketplace. More than a third (36 percent) of IT decision makers report that the election results will impact department budget decisions, and 28 percent report that the outcome will have an effect on staffing/outsourcing decisions.
Showing a slight variance from the corporate sector, IT decision makers in government organizations report an increased level of confidence with an IT Monitor score of 74, a three point increase over June 2008. But these organizations anticipate an even greater impact from the upcoming elections than corporations. Three out of five federal IT decision makers expect the outcome of the election to have a significant impact on their organizations. Seventy-four percent of local government organizations and 63 percent of state government organizations cite budget, taxes and the deficit as the most important election issues.
“In addition to the presidential election, there are 10 gubernatorial races taking place across the country,” added Gambill. “As a result, government organizations at state and local levels stand to see some of the greatest impacts from this election due to shifts in the allocation and prioritization of funding.”
Overall, IT decision makers are split evenly regarding which candidate they trust to handle issues of special concern to IT professionals, with 28 percent citing both John McCain and Barack Obama. IT issues identified as most important include tax policies (47 percent), data protection (38 percent) and offshore outsourcing (36 percent).
Other key findings:
| “IT Issues” most likely to be influenced by the outcome of the presidential election | Overall | Overall Corporate | Overall Government |
| Tax policies | 47% | 48% | 40% |
| Offshore outsourcing | 36% | 38% | 26% |
| Global trade | 32% | 34% | 17% |
| Cyber-security and data protection | 38% | 36% | 45% |
| Government surveillance programs | 28% | 26% | 39% |
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 is based on a survey of 1,060 IT decision makers conducted between July 16 and July 23, 2008.
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 October 2008.
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. 39 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 June 30, 2008 employed approximately 6,700 coworkers. In 2007, the company generated sales of $8.1 billion. For more information, visit CDW.com.
