Growing businesses make the most of IT

Expanding businesses have a greater appreciation of how IT can help them overcome challenges than organisations that are not growing.

Research from Durham Business School and Microsoft found businesses that are expanding use more software, more sophisticated systems and seek a greater range of IT advice.

The growing businesses surveyed also talked about IT in terms of what it can deliver to employees and how it can be used in the future to stay ahead of competition and continue to promote growth.

Expanding companies also focus more on IT as a way of driving the business forward: to improve customer engagement, promote flexible working or gather marketplace information.

In comparison, companies that are not expanding use IT more to support internal processes and report data.

Around a third (32 percent) of respondents from companies with static growth said they don't spend enough money on IT, compared to just 19 percent of growing companies.

Simon Hughes, director of small and medium-sized business customers for Microsoft UK, said the research shows expanding companies focus on IT as an external tool to help meet business challenges, lead to further growth and bring a competitive advantage.

Separate research by the Economist Intelligence Unit supports this view, showing that better performing medium-sized companies attach more importance to technology than their counterparts.

Dan Armstrong, senior editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said the research found companies with higher than average revenue and profitability growth consistently have more positive attitudes towards IT integration.