Is SMB tech spending really on the up?

Microsoft's latest SMB/Partner Insight Report has found that IT managers are prepared to start spending again this year.

The report found that although managers are still concerned about the business climate, thanks to the fading recession they are getting ready to untie the purse strings and start splashing the cash.

Strangely, Microsoft does not speak to the managers themselves in these reports, but to the resellers that sell to them on its behalf - they may count as an 'interested party' in this case.

Sixty three per cent of survey respondents predicted their customers will spend more on IT in 2010, up from just 25 per cent in 2009, which must have been nice for Microsoft to hear.

"The most competitive SMBs are investing in IT that will not only help protect and strengthen their business, but prepare them for success when economic conditions improve," said Birger Steen, vice president of, wait for it, Small and Medium Business and Distribution for the Worldwide Small and Midmarket Solutions and Partners Group at Microsoft.

"Technology can buoy smaller businesses through turbulent times - and which technologies SMBs choose can help determine the speed of their return to financial stability."

Small business spend is likely to head in the direction of server virtualisation technology, which was singled out as being particularly cost-effective, as was software as a service.

Overall, cloud services were predicted to save firms roughly a fifth of previous costs.

Tech spending is definitely on the rise again, although readers may be wise to take some of the figures in this report with a small pinch of salt.

20 Apr 2010