SMBs in Middle East to boost spending on IT in 2006, according to survey

70 percent of respondents said that they expect to increase their spending on IT within the next 12 months. Priority areas for investment are basic IT infrastructure (74 percent), followed by packaged software (57 percent), data communication services/equipment (28 percent) and external IT services (17 percent).

The survey was conducted on behalf of HP by an independent research company which polled 265 organisations in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE with between ten to 500 employees.

A significant theme to emerge from the study is that though 76 percent of respondents claim to consider return on investment (ROI) when undertaking technology purchases, only 22 percent actively work out the total cost of ownership (TCO) of a technology investment prior to purchase. Just 6 percent of respondents overall have a systematic means of measuring the TCO of a technology investment.

"Unless you have worked out the total cost of ownership of a specific product or solution, you will not be able to identify clearly and comprehensively the return on that particular investment," said Hamid Hassan, SMB Manager Middle East. "A deal may look great at the outset but unless factors such as integration, implementation and ongoing support have been factored in then SMBs are not seeing the full picture. There is clearly a need to educate and inform SMBs in the Middle East about this vital area to enable them to realise fully their return on investment in IT.

"We at HP are fully committed to work with SMBs in the Middle East to do just that."

Overall 39 percent of respondents believe that they are able to quantify ROI. Only 5 percent of SMBs who have been able to quantify ROI, though, believe that they have recovered 100 percent of their investment.

The importance of putting in place security measures to protect businesses from everyday IT threats to large-scale natural disasters is recognised by an overwhelming majority of SMBs. 88 percent of respondents said that security solutions play a very important role in ensuring the smooth running of their IT infrastructure.

This finding is further bolstered by the 62 percent of respondents who agreed that enterprises that do not invest in security solutions are more likely to go out of business than ones that do.

"The success of the Business Protection portfolio that we launched earlier this year as part of our Smart Office Initiative underscores the importance that SMBs now attach to security in the Middle East," says Hamid Hassan.

ICT Infrastructure

The two key considerations for SMBs when planning their ICT infrastructure, according to the survey, are scaleability and manageability identified by 82 percent of respondents. This is particularly true in the health care sector where 65 percent of those surveyed specified these two attributes as most important when planning the development of infrastructure.

An area of particular concern to SMBs is the fact that more than 50 percent of respondents believe that productivity is hindered by daily problems with IT. This is particularly true in Saudi Arabia (62 percent) and Kuwait (65 percent) whereas SMBs in the UAE (43 percent) seem to face less problems on a day to day basis with their IT infrastructure.

Another point of interest, particularly in relation to GITEX Shopper, is the finding that only 21 percent of SMBs are more likely to opt for the brand offering a promotion when selecting between brands. The most brand loyal SMBs in this context are to be found in the UAE at 34 percent followed by companies in Saudi Arabia at 23 percent and Kuwait at 20 percent.

"HP is the leading IT provider for small and medium sized businesses on a global basis and the reason is simple - we understand their need for reliable technology that is easy to own and operate," says Hamid Hassan. "We will share the findings of this survey with our business partners and will use these to provide solutions that are specifically tailored to the particular needs of our customers throughout the Middle East."