CDW: IT Confidence, Spending, Hiring Looking Up

IT decision makers from small and medium-sized businesses seem to have turned a corner to show more confidence about IT spending, according to a recent report.

The latest survey from CDW IT Monitor shows that 29% of small-business IT decision makers plan to increase their budgets in the next six months. That's up seven percentage points since February. Eighteen percent of medium-sized businesses' IT decision makers plan to hire in the next six months, according to the survey. That's up six percentage points from February.

CDW said that the survey shows "the first tentative signs of IT growth," but warned that overall confidence remains relatively low. However, last month marks the first time in eight months that confidence has remained flat, with a score of 69 out of a possible 100, instead of dropping.

"The challenging economic times everyone has experienced are by no means over," CDW VP Mark Gambill said Thursday in a statement. "But for the first time in more than a year, we are seeing green shoots that indicate returning confidence in the IT industry. The fact that an increasing number of IT decision makers are anticipating any amount of future growth at this time is reason to believe the first signs of spring may have arrived in what has been a gloomy economic climate."

The CDW IT Monitor is based on an online survey of more than 1,000 IT decision makers from businesses and all sectors of government. Independent polling firm Richard Day Research conducted the survey from March 12 through March 19.

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