Midsize companies want customized solutions: HP survey

Bangalore

March 13th, 2008

Midsize companies around the world are looking for technology solutions
designed to meet their specific business needs, according to a new research
findings commissioned by HP.

According to research, two-thirds of respondents said their companies require
solutions built for their company's size and business challenges.

"The expectations for midsized companies are somewhat different from
large-scaled companies; everything is different, the working environment, the
budgets. So it makes more sense if technology is custom made for every company,
it will be much better," said a senior level business decision maker in
India.

Growth and profitability are the two most important business goals for
midsize businesses. According to the research, 75 percent of midsize businesses
aspire to become large companies. One respondent summed it up: "You are
either growing or you are dying."

The right technology is vital to midsize companies working to grow, and yet
they have smaller IT budgets and staffs. Eighty-eight percent of business
decision makers agree that technology is integral to the success of their
company.

Those surveyed expect their technology infrastructure to allow for better
decision-making, automation of processes, increased competitiveness and business
growth. Almost 90 percent report that their companies are doing more with less
by using technology.

A senior IT decision maker in North America, said, "When you say 'scaled
down,' it means we've lost functionality and we've lost features and I don't
want that; I want something that is going to directly meet my needs. I don't
want something that I have to pick and choose what I can afford."

Respondents noted that obstacles to innovation include not being able to keep
up with the latest technology, challenges in training staff on new technology
and helping both company staff and executives understand how technology can help
them achieve business outcomes.

According to a senior IT decision maker in North America, "... we are
kind of caught in the middle. The smaller businesses are doing well with the
little stuff and they don't have to have the Enterprise Agreement. They can get
by with a basic website or Internet. ... Either we spend a lot of money for
programs we don't really need or we cut back and aren't where we need to
be."

Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates performed the study, commissioned by
HP, by conducting a total of 206 in-depth interviews among senior business and
IT decision-makers from midsize businesses in the United States, Western Europe,
Eastern Europe, India, China, Japan, Asia-Pacific and Latin America during March
and April 2007.