Small and Medium Business IT Spending More Optimistic Than Larger Businesses

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) plan to increase their IT spending for 2004 by 6.6 percent over 2003, compared with a 1.7 percent increase among larger companies, according to new research from Forrester Research. Overall, SMBs are more optimistic about the future than their enterprise counterparts are, with 81 percent describing their current business climate as being at least moderately strong and 78 percent expecting more improvement by the end of the year.

For its inaugural assessment of the state of IT in the SMB market, Forrester surveyed more than 1,000 IT decision-makers at North American SMBs, which are defined as firms with fewer than 1,000 employees. According to the survey, SMBs have a hearty appetite for hardware -- 74 percent are planning to buy new servers, and 65 percent are planning to purchase new storage in the next 12 months.

For more information see "The State Of IT in the SMB Market" and "Better Prospects Ahead for SMB Spending," at the Web site.