British businesses are increasing their investment in information technology despite the recession, according to a survey commissioned jointly by the Confederation of British Industry and SMM Communications Ltd. The Effectiveness of IT is based on a survey of CBI members at board level and 206 individuals took part with 53% of respondents being at director level or above. Nearly a quarter of those questioned were responsible for information technology and 16% claimed an in-depth knowledge of technology. Almost one in four came from blue-chip companies and 29% reported turnover as being in excess of UKP100m per annum. Nearly one in five reported turnover to be between UKP15m and UKP100m, and a quarter of respondents, between UKP5m and UKP15m. Almost one in five had IT spends over UKP3m during 1990 and 1991, and 26% had UKP100,000 budgets. The survey found a clear policy difference between companies spending over UKP100,000 per annum and those with lower budgets. The high-spenders of 1990 were continuing to spend equivalent amounts in 1991, but those with lower budgets were spending even less in 1991, and the survey says that budgets fell by around 13% in this group. However, despite the financial investment in IT, 65% of those questioned report not having attended any sort of training course for their current system. This rises to 73% among those staff whose job directly involves information technology, which raises an alarming spectre that those that most need to understand the benefits of technology are those least likely to have been on a training course. In terms of satisfaction, 54% of respondents say they are satisfied that their requirements are being met by their computer system. However, 44% say they are less than satisfied and there is an interesting divide between director level and those in the IT department. Almost 57% of those at director level believe that their current system meets business needs, but only 48% of data processing staff expressed satisfaction. It is the financial sector that is most satisfied with the effectiveness of information technology, 59% responding positively, and this falls to 50% in the field of consultancy.

Training

Further differences emerge in terms of satisfaction and training. Of those that attended a training course, 48% felt less than satisfied that the business requirements were being met by their computer system, and this figure rises to 53% of untrained people. The suggestion is that those with some training are more likely to express user satisfaction. Nonetheless, if only 44% of companies surveyed are dissatisfied with their current system, over 80% are intending to install a new system by April 1992. Those companies operating in the financial sector are most keen to install replacement systems, with 92% reporting this to be the case, while 77% of media companies planning new equipment. Over 63% of respondents installed a new system in the previous two years, which suggest that requirements are outstripping technology. 92% of companies operate on personal computers, with 17% mentioning IBM Corp as an approved supplier. 46% choose their software first and then decide on the hardware, and over a third would consider buying personal computers from retail outlets, although 31% say they would not since strong support and service are prerequisites to their buying decisions. In terms of measuring the effectiveness of information technology, over a third of companies report measurable gains in both time saved and increased output, 34% and 35% respectively. However, 32% admit that productivity gains have not been formally measured and 38% do not know what sort of assessments, if any, have been employed. In summary, the attitude that best sums up views on information technology is that 84% of respondents value the contribution computers make to company productivity. 44% believe that the need for technology will increase dramatically over the next few years, and a surprising 15% say that information technology is their company’s most important asset.