India Mid-Market Firms Thrive, Despite Tough Times: IBM Survey

According to a global study released by IBM, even in tough economic conditions, over 50 percent of Indian mid-market business decision makers (including COOs, CFOs, CIOs etc) expect their IT budget to increase in 2009 versus last year.

The majority of Indian companies surveyed cited supply chain management (SCM), information management and security management as critical business priorities for improving business performance and efficiency. Most mid-size companies also recognise that a go-it-alone strategy may hinder their chances for success, and finding strategic IT partners who can collaborate with them to realise their vision is the key for success.

According to the study, even in today’s unsettled global economy, mid-size companies continue to innovate and grow through technology investments in India. This is especially true in growth markets where IT budgets have been left largely intact.

The study surveyed about 1,879 business and IT executives at companies with 100 to 1,000 employees across industries and in seventeen countries including India, Australia, Benelux, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, UK, and US.

“Mid-size companies in India are constantly innovating while deploying resources to create sustainable business value. They are investing in the future – making changes and taking risks to survive, compete – and thrive,” said Ramesh Narasimhan, director, General Business, IBM India/ South Asia. “In today’s globally integrated economy, it is necessary to enhance customer relationships and collaboration, and to create efficiencies across supply chains and core business operations.”

Some of the common barriers to successful IT implementations at growing organisations are an inability to implement and lack of required skills in-house. Study findings indicate that many mid-size firms work with IT providers and consultants to overcome these barriers. In terms of selection criteria, 70 percent of those surveyed indicate that they prefer to partner with an IT company who has expertise in their business to help them work smarter, while 67 percent look for partners who can provide the highest quality IT infrastructure solutions.

Improving efficiency and productivity, improving customer focus and sharpening business agility emerged as the leading business challenges in the study.

* Improving efficiency – 83 percent of mid-size companies said improving efficiency was a key priority, while 80 percent cited increasing employee productivity as a critical challenge.

* Focusing on customers – With the ability for mid-size companies to differentiate against larger rivals by creating a highly personalised and responsive environment for today’s consumer, participants in the study rated enhancing customer service and prospecting for new customers high on their priority list.

* Sharpening business agility and intelligence - Over 70 percent of respondents globally identified improved decision-making and collaboration across employees, partners and suppliers as critical areas to improving their overall business performance.