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BOSTON — Only 30 per cent of small U.S. businesses plan to increase technology spending in the next six months compared with about two-thirds of larger companies, according to a survey released on Wednesday.
The poll by CDW Corp, a privately held online computer retailer, reflects recent surveys, comments from business leaders and anecdotal evidence suggesting that small firms are suffering more than larger companies as the U.S. economy weakens.
Many large companies continue to pour money into new technologies because they are convinced new computer systems can cut costs and give an edge over rivals, said CDW Vice President Mark Gambill, who oversaw the survey.
Larger companies have advantages, such as employing information technology (IT) managers who can install new systems and persuade decision makers to invest in them, he said.
“In a lot of situations, small business don't have IT people working for them. If they don't have people on staff promoting why they need to make an investment at this time, the easier thing to do is to delay making the purchase,” he said.
CDW surveyed some 750 IT executives between Feb. 4 and Feb. 8. One-third of them had fewer than 100 employees. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
About one-quarter of the respondents from businesses polled with fewer than 100 employees said IT investment “helps a lot” in improving financial performance. About one-half of the larger businesses gave the same response.
Last month, Intuit Inc. reported that unit sales of its QuickBooks accounting software for small businesses fell short of internal targets in the quarter ended Jan. 31 and cut its sales outlook for the product.
Intuit Chief Executive Brad Smith said in an interview on Wednesday that economic conditions were “challenging.”
In the interview, Intuit Senior Vice President Rick Jensen declined to say how QuickBooks sales were going.
Last month, the National Federation of Independent Business said its index of small business optimism fell to its lowest level since January 1991, when the U.S. economy was mired in recession.
CDW posted year-on-year sales growth in the double digits in percentage terms in January, but started to see “mixed signals” in February, Gambill said.
“There is some slowdown. There are mixed signals in the market,” said Gambill, whose customers are predominantly businesses and government agencies.
He declined to be more specific.
