[August 29, 2011]

SWC Technology Partners Survey Reveals Secrets to Success for Mid-Market Business

SWC Technology Partners published its 2011 Technology Trends Survey revealing a number of developments affecting today's mid-market IT department. Among the report's findings was a clear correlation between how respondents embraced technology and their financial success. The survey also revealed a surprising and prevailing lack of adoption of cloud computing.

The Value of Technology

Respondents whose company leadership held a "strategic" perception of information technology (IT) were more likely to report an increase in revenue, profit margin and market share than those respondents who viewed IT as "necessary". Additionally, 88% of respondents who indicated that their company leadership held a "strategic" perception of IT were optimistic or cautiously optimistic about the company's business outlook over the next 12 months.

"It's easy to respond to challenging economics by cutting costs," says Elliott Baretz, Vice President of SWC. "So often we end up going too far and, in the end, damaging our ability to execute. A strong business needs to remain focused on what gives it a competitive advantage. I think this is why we saw such a strong correlation between today's thriving respondents and how they value technology. In today's economy understanding the value of technology is a prerequisite to success."

Cloud Computing: Surprising Lack of Adoption

The survey clearly reflected a reality that Cloud Computing is still very early in its evolution. Only 3 percent of respondents indicated that their company has adopted a Cloud Computing solution for the entire organization. And, over half of the respondents indicated that their company is not pursuing a single Cloud computing initiative. Respondents indicated Privacy and Security as the single, biggest concern when considering Cloud Computing.

"The technology industry can be rife with hype," said Baretz. "As professionals in this space we have to look past the rhetoric and analyze our options in an objective manner. The survey is telling us that Cloud Computing is an option and not just 'the' answer."

Reliance on a Single Individual: Remains but Lower

The number of respondents reporting that their organization is absolutely dependent on a single individual for his or her systems knowledge and/or expertise dropped 7% since 2009.

"We call this the lottery factor," said Baretz. "What if your IT Manager wins the lottery and quits? Can your company survive? How painful will it be? We believe the growth of our managed services practice speaks to this dynamic. So often our managed services team is brought in to cost effectively distribute dependency and improve performance."

210 mid-market IT and business leaders participated in the 2011 Technology Trends Survey. The majority of responders were IT senior leaders and management from organizations in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana in industries including manufacturing, retail, education, construction, healthcare, accounting and non-profit. More than half of the respondents manage environments with a user base between 100 and 2,000 individuals.

About SWC Technology Partners

SWC Technology Partners is an award-winning provider of IT solutions to midsize businesses. For more than 30 years, SWC has excelled at delivering technology solutions that optimize productivity, strengthen customer relationships, enhance data sharing and drive profitability. SWC specializes in the technology solutions that match the business needs of midmarket organizations including managed services; infrastructure solutions such as Unified Communications (News - Alert), virtualization and network security; and software solutions including SharePoint, business intelligence and custom development. Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, SWC is a Microsoft (News - Alert) Certified Gold Partner and was honored as a Microsoft Central Region Partner of the Year in 2007, 2009 and 2010. To learn more, visit www.swc.com or email info@swc.com or call 630.572.0240. Follow SWC on Facebook and on Twitter (News - Alert) @SWCTechPartners.

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