While Most (71%) Businesses Use Technology to Drive Revenue and Stay Competitive, Six in Ten (62%) Say Their IT Staff is Expected to do More With Less in this Economic Downturn

Toronto, ON — It appears that the economic downturn is putting a strain on many IT departments across the country, with a new Ipsos Reid poll of business managers and executives conducted on behalf of Microsoft indicating that six in ten (62%) `agree' (19% strongly/43% somewhat) that their IT staff is `expected to do more work with less resources' as a result of the impact that the economy is having on their business. Just four in ten (38%) `disagree' (9% strongly/29% somewhat) that this is the case.

Despite the fact that most (71%) `agree' (25% strongly/46% somewhat) that their company `uses technology to help people drive resources and to keep the company competitive', and that their number-one technology investment goal is to `help save money in the long run' (77% `agree', 28% strongly/49% somewhat), one in three (30%) says their priority to upgrade or invest in new technologies has changed, and that they're investing fewer resources.

On the flipside, most (59%) business have not changed their priorities in this regard, and some (10%) are even investing more resources into technology and upgrades. Further, one half (48%) of respondents says their business will be looking at new technology and upgrades to help drive their business during the economic downturn, focusing on software plus services (44%), hardware (23%), software (21%) or some other (12%) type of technology or upgrade. Moreover, three quarters (74%) `agree' (24% strongly/50% somewhat) that their company `is continuing to invest in tools to support and drive technology'.

Two in three (63%) managers and executives believe that their IT workers are `stretched to meet the business' IT needs'. Despite this admission, eight in ten (82%) say their co-workers expect the same benefits of their company's technology solutions as before the economic downturn.

Interestingly, IT workers in Quebec appear to be most likely to be stretched:

• Quebecers (84%) are by far the most likely to say their IT workers are stretched to meet their business' IT needs, followed by those living in Atlantic Canada (59%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (59%), Alberta (58%), Ontario (56%) and British Columbia (52%).
• They are also the most likely (67%) to say that their IT staff is expected to do more work with less resources, followed by those living in Atlantic Canada (63%), Ontario (61%), Alberta (59%), British Columbia (57%) and Saskatchewan and Manitoba (56%).
• Quebecers (72%) are least likely to say that their co-workers expect the same benefits of their company's technology solutions as before the economic downturn. Those living in Ontario (82%), Atlantic Canada (86%), British Columbia (89%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (90%) and Alberta (92%) are more likely.

These are the findings of a poll conducted on behalf of Microsoft from February 13 to February 18, 2009. This online survey of 1005 Canadians who are managers or executives in their place of work was conducted via the Ipsos I-Say Online Panel, Ipsos Reid's national online panel. The results of this poll is based on a sample where quota sampling and weighting are employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data. Quota samples with weighting from the Ipsos online panel provide results that are intended to approximate a probability sample. Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online polls, however, an unweighted probability sample of this size, with a 100% response rate, would have an estimated margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had the entire adult population of managers/executives in Canada been polled.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
Sean Simpson
Research Manager
Ipsos Reid
Public Affairs
(416) 572-4474
[email protected]

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