CEOs, CIOs share buying decisions at SMEs

For smaller businesses, corporate management - including CEOs, COOs, CFOs and owners - takes a hands-on approach when it comes to procuring IT goods and services.

Corporate managers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were more likely than IT managers - CIOs, CTOs, IT directors - to sign off on all or some purchasing decisions, according to a recent survey conducted by silicon.com and the Bathwick Group. Half of corporate executives surveyed had this privilege compared to 40 per cent of IT execs.

However, when you add those who actively contribute on purchasing decisions to the above figure, buying power was nearly equal between the two groups.

Within the IT department, all of the IT directors surveyed had sign-off power or were active contributors to purchases, compared to nine out of 10 CIOs.

Among corporate types it's the owner or partner who is most likely to sign off, followed by directors and the CEO or COO.

SMEs vary greatly in their dependence on technical consultants, as this position had a wide range of involvement in IT purchasing. Around 60 per cent of consultants surveyed make buying decisions for their employers while 20 per cent have no involvement at all.

Corporate and IT managers agreed tech spending has increased over the past three years - around two in three of each group said so - while around a third of each said it's stayed the same, according to the survey. However, there was a discrepancy on the topic of budget decreases. Nearly 16 per cent of IT staff said spending has decreased - double the percentage of corporate executives with the same answer.

When it comes to the 2005 budget, the corporate side was more certain than the techies that it will stay the same as 2004 - 46 per cent compared to 34 per cent.

Corporate managers were also more likely to say their company's level of IT expenditures is about right. Nearly three-quarters of corporates said so compared to just over half of IT.

Yet confidence that their company's decisions on IT investment are generally correct was nearly equal among the two groups - with about 80 per cent of each saying they were very or somewhat confident the decisions are right.

The study was based on interviews with 567 executives - 366 in IT management and 201 in corporate management - from companies with fewer than 1,000 employees.