New Zealand is largely comprised of small businesses, under 100FTE. But small does not necessarily equate to inefficient and technology adverse as shown by a recent “Innovation for Growth” survey conducted by the Employers and Manufacturers Association Northern and commissioned by software vendor SAP. The survey found that a significant percentage of local firms believe IT has helped their business.

The survey took place in September 2008 across 365 business owners or managers.

• 35% small businesses with fewer than 10 full time staff
• 64% had revenues of less than $10 million in 2007
• 63% had no export component to their business

Findings

Findings of the survey indicated that businesses appreciated the impact technology can have on their business success. Responses regarding the importance software played included:

• Actively supports their business success – 65%
• Essential for the smooth functioning of their business – 53% .
• Essential to gaining and maintaining sustainable competitive advantage29%
• Primary component in their growth strategy – 22%

In ranking the importance of different types of IT investment, 25% ranked ERP the highest, and 10% ranked it second. By comparison, IT security initiatives were ranked most important by only 19%.

Respondents had clear strategic plans for investing in IT for their businesses. This is significant considering that during economic slowdown, small tweaks in how a business operates can make a big difference to profitability.

It was encouraging to see that NZ businesses understand the strategic role of their information systems during a slowdown.

Software regarded as the most important to meet organisational objectives over the next 1-3 years:

• Financial management software – 61%
• Sales management software – 16%
• Business intelligence software – 15%
• Web services – 15%