iStart - Mobilising management attracts the IT dollar - ICT Investment Intentions Survey 2013

After several years of flat ICT spend the major driver of ICT

investment, particularly in the mid-market, is mobilising busi-

ness data into the hands of management.

While the mid-market is forecasting an 15 percent increase

in investment, overall spending is predicted to grow by just

1.3 percent to NZ$363 million the results of iStart’s 2013 ICT Investment

Intentions Survey show.

Mobile apps and mobile devices for staff are again amongst the most

popular investment area with 49 percent of organisations planning to buy

devices for management and staff. This is understandably matched with a

significant increase in plans to invest in mobile applications. Smartphone apps

are planned by 39 percent of respondents, up from 25 percent in 2012.

Business intelligence, reporting and analytics or ‘big data’ solutions retain

their high level of interest with 46 percent intending to spend on BI applica-

tions – similar to the 45 percent last survey. The results reinforce the trend

toward making access to corporate data available to staff wherever they are

and on whichever device. (For more on the big data mobility trend refer to

Gartner’s market analysis on page 66.)

BI and mobile apps were seen as the second and third most pressing

investment after the core requirements of upgraded infrastructure hardware

(servers, network equipment etc). ERP and financial systems, the traditional

leader, come in at fourth place, with 37 percent looking at making invest-

ments in new or extended ERP solutions.

Smaller businesses are looking to reduce costs – those with less than 50

staff are forecasting a reduction of 9.6 percent. Several cited moving to the

cloud, and the associated reduction in Microsoft licensing costs as the reason.

The 424 organisations responding to the survey represent a NZ$363m

share of Australasia’s estimated NZ$7b ICT annual capital investment market.

The overall sentiment among respondents was a sense that many were

on the brink of significant changes in the way they deliver IT. Several respon-

dents commented that the pace of innovation in cloud applications is creat-

ing a struggle to keep up.

General Manager of iStart, Hayden McCall, commented on the impact the

cloud is having on all businesses, “across all software categories, businesses

are looking first to the cloud, and many are in a holding pattern as the vendor

shake out determines the winners and losers. Most businesses will welcome

the maturing of cloud options in which they can confidently invest.

“Cloud uptake is slowly moving away from concerns on security and inter-

net outages towards the functionality of the applications available and the

resilience of both the architecture and the contract with the provider – the

cloud is maturing.”

A big thank you to all those who responded to the survey – the winner of

the smartphone will be announced in the eNewsletter so keep an eye out.

iStart’s annual investment survey shows the mid-market is investing in mobile business intelligence while small business is doing more with less in the cloud…

Mobilising management attracts IT dollar

ICT investmentintentions survey

e

d

c

b

a

ERP/Financials

37% investing in 2013

2128planning to

invest in 2013*

44%

20%

23%

11%

3%

no invest 2

no invest1

buy new

upgrade

replace


2070planning to

invest in 2013*

IP Telephony/VoIP/Enhanced Telephony Applications

42%

22%

23%

5%

8%

no invest 2

no invest1

buy new

upgrade

replace


2818 planning to

invest in 2013*

Mobile Devices for Management and Staff

39%

12%

37%

8%

4%

no invest 2

no invest1

buy new

upgrade

replace


3450planning to

invest in 2013*

Hardware/Servers/Network Infrastructure

34%

6%53%

7%

no invest 2

no invest1

buy new

upgrade

replace


2645 planning to

invest in 2013*

Business Intelligence/Reporting/Performance Management

31%

24%

31%

4%

10%

no invest 2

no invest1

buy new

upgrade

replace


2243planning to

invest in 2013*

Smartphone Applications (Email, Sales, Service)

21%

41%

21%

3%

15%

e

d

c

b

a Have now, intend to replace

Have now, intend to upgrade or extend

Don't have, intend to buy new

Don't have, no investment intention

Have now, no investment intention

* Estimated total number of organisations on iStart database (of 5750) planning to invest in 2013

SURVEY RESULTSIT Capex Forecasts, 2013

Research // 2013 iStart ICT Investment Intentions Survey

Number of Employees

Number of Respondents

% of total

2013 total estimated

IT spend (NZ$000)Average 2013

IT spend% change

2012 to 2013

1-5 74 17% $971 $13,122 -8.1%

6-20 58 14% $1,954 $33,690 -7.5%

21-50 52 12% $3,712 $71,385 -13.2%

50-200 100 24% $34,962 $349,620 15.3%

200-500 62 15% $86,176 $1,389,935 7.2%

500+ 78 18% $235,208 $3,015,487 -2.0%

Grand Total 424 100% $362,283 $856,092 1.3%

% of companies running in the cloud by application type

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

BI

eMarketing

Other

Desktop/collaberation

ERP/financial

None, but looking at options

CRM

None

eMail Servers

Website/Content Management

Website/Content Management

eMail Servers

None

CRM

None, but looking at options

ERP/Financials

Desktop/Collaboration

Other

eMarketing

BI 10%

32%

29%

28%

20%

20%

18%

15%

14%

13%

no invest 2

no invest1

buy new

upgrade

replace

Supply Chain/Demand Management (SCM)


978planning to

invest in 2013*

22%

61%

12%3%

2%

no invest 2

no invest1

buy new

upgrade

replace


460planning to

invest in 2013*

Mapping/Navigation/GIS

19%

73%

6%1%

2%

no invest 2

no invest1

buy new

upgrade

replace


1783planning to

invest in 2013*

Network and E-mail Security

62%

29%

3%

6%

no invest 2

no invest1

buy new

upgrade

replace


1783planning to

invest in 2013*

Email & Document Archiving/ Retrieval System

48%

21%

18%

5%

7%

no invest 2

no invest1

buy new

upgrade

replace


1668planning to

invest in 2013*

eCommerce Capable Website

20%

51%

18%3%

9%

no invest 2

no invest1

buy new

upgrade

replace


1725planning to

invest in 2013*

Business Process Management (BPM)

27%

44%

20%

5%

5%

no invest 2

no invest1

buy new

upgrade

replace

B2B eCommerce/eProcurement System


1553planning to

invest in 2013*

25%

48%

16%

6%

4%

no invest 2

no invest1

buy new

upgrade

replace


1783planning to

invest in 2013*

CRM/Help Desk/Call Centre System

32%

37%

18%

7%

5%

no invest 2

no invest1

buy new

upgrade

replace


1093planning to

invest in 2013*

Scanning or RFID Solution

32%

48%

9%2%

8%

no invest 2

no invest1

buy new

upgrade

replace


1898planning to

invest in 2013*

Content Management System

26%

41%

22%

5%

7%

no invest 2

no invest1

buy new

upgrade

replace


978planning to

invest in 2013*

Human Resource Management System

39%

44%

7%4%

5%

no invest 2

no invest1

buy new

upgrade

replace


1725planning to

invest in 2013*

Wireless Network

62% 8%

24%

1%

5%

For the full survey results go to www.istart.co.nz or www.istart.com.au; Search term = “intentions”

SURVEY RESULTS

Research // 2013 iStart ICT Investment Intentions Survey