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Midsize companies want customized soln

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CIOL Bureau
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BANGALORE, INDIA: Midsize companies around the world are looking for technology solutions designed to meet their specific business needs, according to a new research findings commissioned by HP.

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According to the research, two-thirds of respondents said their companies require solutions built for their company’s size and business challenges.

“The expectations for midsized companies are somewhat different from large-scaled companies; everything is different, the working environment, the budgets. So it makes more sense if technology is custom-made for every company, it will be much better,” said a senior level business decision maker in India.

Growth and profitability are the two most important business goals for midsize businesses. According to the research, 75 per cent of midsize businesses aspire to become large companies.

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One respondent summed it up: “You are either growing or you are dying.”

The right technology is vital to midsize companies working to grow, and yet they have smaller IT budgets and staffs.

Eighty eight per cent of business decision makers agree that technology is integral to the success of their company.

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Those surveyed expect their technology infrastructure to allow for better decision-making, automation of processes, increased competitiveness and business growth.

Almost 90 per cent report that their companies are doing more with less by using technology.

A senior IT decision maker in North America, said, “When you say ‘scaled down,’ it means we’ve lost functionality and we’ve lost features and I don’t want that; I want something that is going to directly meet my needs. I don’t want something that I have to pick and choose what I can afford.”

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Respondents noted that obstacles to innovation include not being able to keep up with the latest technology, challenges in training staff on new technology and helping both company staff and executives understand how technology can help them achieve business outcomes.

According to a senior IT decision maker in North America, “... we are kind of caught in the middle. The smaller businesses are doing well with the little stuff and they don’t have to have the Enterprise Agreement. They can get by with a basic website or Internet. ... Either we spend a lot of money for programs we don’t really need or we cut back and aren’t where we need to be.”

Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates performed the study, commissioned by HP, by conducting a total of 206 in-depth interviews among senior business and IT decision-makers from midsize businesses in the US, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, India, China, Japan, Asia-Pacific and Latin America during March and April 2007.

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