Worldwide IT Spending on Pace to Reach $3.7 Trillion in 2013

Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.7 trillion in 2013, a 2 percent increase from 2012 spending of $3.6 trillion, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc. Last quarter, Gartner's forecast for 2013 IT spending growth in U.S. dollars was 4.1 percent. The 2.1 percentage point reduction mainly reflects the impact of recent fluctuations in U.S. dollar exchange rates; growth in constant currency is forecast at 3.5 percent for 2013, down only slightly from last quarter. 

The forecast for spending on devices in 2013 has been revised down from 7.9 percent growth in Gartner's previous forecast to 2.8 percent. The decline in PC sales, recorded in the first quarter of 2013, continued into the second quarter with little recovery expected during the second half of 2013. While new devices are set to hit the market in the second half of 2013, they will fail to compensate for the underlying weakness of the traditional PC market. The outlook for tablet revenue for 2013 is for growth of 38.9 percent, while mobile phone revenue is projected to increase 9.3 percent this year. 

Enterprise software spending is on pace to grow 6.4 percent in 2013. Growth expectations for customer relationship management (CRM) have been raised to reflect expanded coverage into e-commerce, social and mobile. Expectations for digital content creation and operating systems have been reduced as software as a service (SaaS) and changing device demands impact traditional models and markets. 

Telecom services spending is forecast to grow 0.9 percent in 2013. Fixed broadband is showing slightly higher than anticipated growth. The impact of voice substitution is mixed as it is moving faster in the consumer sector, but slightly slower in the enterprise market. 

More information on IT spending can be found at www.SupportIndustry.com

IT Capital Budgets Jump, IT Hiring Lags

IT capital budgets are rising 4% at the median this year, providing a strong indication that large enterprises are beginning to invest in upgrades to systems and infrastructure, the annual Computer Economics IT Spending and Staffing Benchmarks study finds.

But the newly released study by the Irvine, Calif.-based IT research firm also cautions that IT job growth remains soft and IT operational spending growth is lackluster across all organizations. “Until we see more strength among smaller companies, we have to conclude that this year will look much like the last two years: there will be a slow improvement coupled with a lack of sustained hiring,” said Frank Scavo, president of Computer Economics. “We are in the midst of an IT spending recovery, but it will need to become broader and deeper before we see any acceleration.”

On the positive side, the study provides evidence that IT organizations are stepping up investments in capital projects. IT organizations cited upgrading existing systems, becoming more cost-efficient, and developing new systems as their top three priorities. IT executives are also more confident that they will get to spend all of the money in their budgets this year. Only 20% were anticipating not being able spend all of the money in their plans this year, which is down from 31% last year, when the fiscal cliff and sovereign debt crisis prompted a more dour outlook.

Another positive sign is that large organizations are showing relatively strong improvement in IT operational spending. IT operational budgets are up 4.0% at the median for organizations that have IT operating budgets in excess of $20 million. Large organizations are starting hire IT workers in addition to making capital investments. In contrast, organizations with IT operational budgets of less than $5 million plan to boost IT operational spending by only 1.1% and are showing no growth in headcount.

More information on service, support and IT can be found at www.SupportIndustry.com

Research finds a simple smile could be the key to business success

A simple smile and a friendly greeting can make customers feel much more loyal towards small independent companies, according to new KingstonBusiness School research.

The study, which examined the retail behavior of 2,006 consumers and the business practices of 1,216 decision makers in small and medium-sized enterprises, revealed that a smile and a friendly hello was the most common reason why consumers felt loyal towards independent retailers. However, only just over half those sampled stated their small business employed this practice.

Three in five consumers were also willing to pay more for a product from a small independent shop rather than deal with a large corporate retailer, the study funded by Barclays Business Banking and carried out by Kingston's Small Business Research Centre suggested.

More than a third of loyal consumers said they were repeat customers because of excellent service and one in five said they valued businesses remembering their usual order. However, only around half of businesses involved in the study kept a record of customers' previous orders.

The research also discovered that less than a third of business respondents considered retaining or growing their current customer base to be their main priority to achieve growth during the next year. Only 50 per cent would encourage word of mouth recommendations by regular customers to grow or survive.

More information on customer service and support can be found at www.SupportIndustry.com

Companies are Unprepared to Defend Against Cyber Threats

Despite broad recognition that cyber threats are more prevalent than ever before, a large number of companies are not adequately prepared to respond to a data breach or IT security crisis, according to findings from the 2013 IT Security and Privacy Survey by global consulting firm Protiviti.

More than two-thirds (68 percent) of respondents in Protiviti’s survey said they have elevated their focus on information security in response to recent press coverage of so-called “cyber warfare.” However, the number of companies that appear inadequately prepared for a crisis is surprisingly high. When asked if their organizations have a formal and documented crisis response plan for use following a data breach or hacking incident, more than one-third reported that either their organizations did not (21 percent) or they did not know (13 percent).

Data Policy and Retention/Storage Issues

According to the survey results, many companies lack key data policies and are ineffective at managing data through proper retention and storage practices, including the classification of sensitive data.  Approximately 22 percent of companies do not have a written information security policy (WISP) and 32 percent lack a data encryption policy. Not having these policies in place is an important consideration when a breach involves information covered by data privacy laws and can expose an organization to significant legal liability. 

CIOs Take a More Strategic Role

As data security continues to play a larger role in business operations and the use of so-called big data becomes more integrated with strategic business objectives, CIOs are seeing their responsibilities increase. The survey showed that more CIOs are taking responsibility for data governance strategy, oversight and execution within their organizations. Additionally, companies with documented crisis plans enacted in response to a data breach or hacking incident have now begun to involve their CIOs far more than ever before.  In 2012, only 58 percent reported that their CIO was involved in addressing such an incident compared to 72 percent in 2013 (up 14 percent).

More information on customer service, support and IT can be found at www.SupportIndustry.com

CIOs Reveal Third-Quarter Hiring Plans

Twelve percent of U.S. chief information officers (CIOs) interviewed recently expect to expand their IT teams in the third quarter of 2013, according to the just-released RobertHalf Technology IT Hiring Forecast and Local Trend Report. This compares to 14 percent in the previous quarter. In addition, 56 percent plan to hire for open IT roles, 26 percent expect to put hiring plans on hold, and 6 percent plan to reduce their IT staff in the third quarter.

In the same survey, 85 percent of CIOs said they were somewhat or very confident about their companies' prospects for growth in the third quarter, and 63 percent felt somewhat or very confident in their firms' third-quarter investment in IT projects.

U.S. IT Hiring Forecast	Q2	Q3
CIOs planning to add more staff to IT departments	14%	12%
CIOs planning to hire only for open IT roles	61%	56%
CIOs planning to put IT hiring plans on hold	22%	26%
CIOs planning to reduce their IT staff	2%	6%
Don't know future hiring plans	1%	1%

*Numbers do not total 100 percent due to rounding.

The IT Hiring Forecast and Local Trend Report survey was developed by Robert Half Technology, a leading provider of information technology professionals on a project and full-time basis, and conducted by an independent research firm. The survey is based on more than 2,300 telephone interviews with CIOs from a random sample of U.S. companies in 23 major metro areas with 100 or more employees. Robert Half Technology is a leading provider of IT professionals on a project and full-time basis and has been tracking IT hiring activity in the United States since 1995.

Recruiting Challenges
In terms of recruiting, 69 percent of CIOs said it's somewhat or very challenging to find skilled IT professionals today. It is most difficult to find skilled talent in the functional areas of networking (18 percent), data/database management (14 percent) and help desk/technical support (13 percent).

Confidence in Business Growth and IT Investments
The survey results suggest that CIOs are optimistic about their companies' growth and IT investments: Eighty-five percent reported being somewhat or very confident in their companies' prospects for growth in the third quarter of 2013.

Sixty-three percent of CIOs also said they were somewhat or very confident that their firms would invest in IT projects in the third quarter of 2013.

Skills in Demand
Among the technology executives surveyed, 55 percent said that network administration and database management were the skill sets in greatest demand within their IT department. Desktop support followed closely, with 54 percent of the response.

More information on customer service and support can be found at www.SupportIndustry.com

Worldwide Software Market Forecast to Continue on Modest Growth Trajectory Through 2017

International Data Corporation (IDC) released the latest forecast from the Worldwide Semiannual Software Tracker. For 2012, the worldwide software market grew 3.6% year over year, less than half the growth rate experienced in 2010 and 2011. IDC believes these results mark the beginning of a more conservative period of growth. The forecast growth rate for 2013 is 5.7% while the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the 2012-2017 forecast period is 6.3%.

The collaborative applications software category is forecast to have the highest growth in the short term (2013). This category includes social software, which is growing from a lower revenue base. The collaborative applications category is also experiencing more cloud deployments than other categories and this represents new software investments. The structured data management software category is expected to show the strongest growth over the five-year forecast period with a 9.3% CAGR from 2012-2017, fueled by faster growth in the last 2-3 years of the forecast. Data management is at the core of the information-driven economy and will play a critical role in the implementation of Big Data and analytics.

On a regional basis, the emerging economies will experience stronger growth than in mature economies. The average 2012-2017 CAGR for Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan), Latin America, and Central Eastern, Middle East, and Africa (CEMA) is 8.8% while the average CAGR for the mature regions – North America, Western Europe, and Japan – is 5.0%. The emerging regions have been gaining almost 0.7% of market share every year since 2008 and they are expected to represent almost 19% of global software revenues in 2017.

More information on the customer service, support and software markets can be found at www.SupportIndustry.com.

New Engagement Survey Metric Uncovers More Risk For Employers Who Want To Keep Their Top Performers

HR departments typically track dozens of metrics, many of which are ignored by CEOs. But Leadership IQ has developed a new HR metric that links employee engagement survey scores with performance appraisal ratings.  And it’s quickly capturing executives’ attention, with articles and commentary across every major business information medium.

Leadership IQ researchers linked employees’ scores on their annual engagement surveys with the scores they received on their annual performance appraisals at 207 companies.  And then, by identifying statistical relationships between engagement and appraisal scores, Leadership IQ is able to make predictions and recommendations about high performer turnover, low performer accountability, middle performer development, and much more.

In the latest example of this metric, Leadership IQ identified that in 42% of the companies, low performers are MORE engaged than high and middle performers.

Leadership IQ’s study, titled “JobPerformance Not a Predictor of Employee Engagement” also detailed a 1,000-person technology-services firm, where low performers were more engaged than high performers. The annual appraisals at this technology firm use a 4-point scale, ranging from Unacceptable to Superior. According to the company’s 2012 statistics, 18% of employees can be considered low performers, 20% are considered high performers, and 62% are considered middle performers.

After Leadership IQ administered an employee engagement survey, it found …

-- Low performers were significantly more motivated to give 100% effort at work than high performers

-- Low performers were significantly more likely to recommend the company as a great organization to work for than high performers

-- Low performers were significantly more likely than high performers to believe that leadership holds people accountable for their performance

-- Low performers were significantly more likely than high performers to feel that all employees live up to the same standards

Examining these findings, the firm then expanded the review across more than 200 companies and the results were amplified. There are ample reasons why these findings put organizations at risk. One of them is the fact that high performers, who thrive on being highly engaged, don’t tend to stick around very long if they aren’t engaged. It’s disturbing news for any company that believes their people are their most important asset.

The best leaders are responding by learning the facts and taking action. They discover and act on the factors pushing valuable employees out the door and build on the factors that tug at them to stay. They take action to make all employees more mentally and physically accountable.

Great organizations also identify the key attitudes that define their success and failure so their leaders can accurately identify, reward and correct behavior according to actual employee performance. They make sure employees, especially high performers, understand the company vision and they recognize that what defines most low performers is the wrong attitude (not a lack of skill).

More information on customer service and employee engagement can be found at www.SupportIndustry.com