In response to the pandemic, small businesses had to rapidly invest in their IT infrastructure to facilitate remote work for their employees. This included cloud migration and security enhancements. Despite the uncertainties of the economy, companies adapted and reassessed their budgets, scaling back non-essential expenses, including technology expenditures.
To gain insight into these dynamic changes, Spiceworks Ziff Davis (SWZD) surveyed over 1,000 tech buyers in European and North American companies. The findings revealed that businesses expect the challenges to continue into 2022 but maintain a positive outlook for the future. Key insights include:
- Revenue Expectations: 61% of businesses expect their revenues to increase in 2022, while only 8% anticipate a decrease.
- IT Budget Growth: The majority of businesses plan to increase or maintain their technology budgets year-over-year.
- Cloud and Managed Services: More IT budget allocation will go to cloud computing and managed services, reducing shares for software and hardware.
- Futuristic Technologies: Companies plan to invest in emerging technologies, particularly newer security solutions.
- Technology Buying Challenges: Over 40% of companies anticipate shortages, price increases, shipping issues, and logistical problems in 2022.
- Remote Work Considerations: Approximately 25% of IT professionals plan to look for new jobs, with 86% considering remote positions.
In 2021, 64% of businesses enabled remote work, and 55% increased tech spending to meet the demands of the global crisis. The survey highlights the resilience of small businesses in adapting to remote work and their willingness to invest in technology to navigate an evolving business landscape.
