Small, medium biz spend on IT may rise 25 percent

By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 16 August 2007, 19:30 IST
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Kolkota: About $640 million investment is expected to be made by small and medium businesses in India, employing less than 1,000 on packaged software in the current calendar year. This would mark an increase of over 25 percent on similar investments made in 2006, according to a study conducted by the New York-based Access Markets International (AMI) Partners. According to the study, over 90 percent of the total software spending by SMBs this year would be on databases, accounting, networking, productivity and systems software. Increased IT awareness among SMBs is expected to provide a boost to the Indian IT market. Presently SMBs are aware of how deployment of IT can accelerate their businesses. In fact, a small percentage of IT-savvy SMBs have progressed to the third wave of IT adoption, demanding tailor-made IT solutions and superior support services. In 2006, small businesses (SBs) or companies with less than 100 employees registered a 23 percent rise in software spending while medium businesses or companies with 100 to 999 employees posted a 30 percent growth on the same count. The study states that investments made by SMBs in packaged software are generally driven by business needs even as specific requirements determine the modules or packages that are chosen for implementation. Rationalisation of such investments has also emerged as a focus area for SMBs. It is found that the top management in SMBs want a snapshot of all processes in the company in real time. There is an increased focus on factors such as employee productivity, enhancement of customer interaction systems, automating and streamlining operations, round-the-clock connectivity, and information protection.