{"id":25143,"date":"2017-08-17T07:04:34","date_gmt":"2017-08-17T14:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=25143"},"modified":"2017-08-17T16:28:38","modified_gmt":"2017-08-17T23:28:38","slug":"comptia-survey-finds-confident-it-executives-anticipate-strong-finish-for-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/feature-articles\/2017\/08\/comptia-survey-finds-confident-it-executives-anticipate-strong-finish-for-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"CompTIA Survey Finds Confident IT Executives Anticipate Strong Finish for 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/em>The CompTIA IT Industry Business Confidence Index rebounded in Q3 as tech executives and business owners reported positive news on year-to-date revenue tracking and expressed optimism about the near-term future.<\/p>\n

The Q3 index increased by 3.2 points to 67.4 on a 100-point scale. A total of 314 U.S. technology companies participated in the survey, which has been published since 2009 by CompTIA, the world\u2019s leading technology association.<\/p>\n

This marks the first time in the history of the CompTIA IT Industry Business Confidence Index that a Q3 confidence reading improved over Q2 business sentiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than three-quarters of the firms surveyed say they are on target or ahead of revenue goals for 2017, which certainly figures into the positive business sentiment,\u201d said Tim Herbert, senior vice president, research and market intelligence, CompTIA.<\/p>\n

All three components of the index showed positive movement in Q3. Executives\u2019 confidence in the U.S. economy stands at 62.4, up from 60 last quarter. Confidence in the IT industry rose to 70.6, up from 66.7. Self-assessment of their own company increased to 69.1 from 65.9 in Q2.<\/p>\n

Industry executives expect the momentum to continue, with a forecast for the overall index to climb again in Q4.<\/p>\n

Cautionary Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tempering the positive Q3 results are executives\u2019 concerns about factors that could negatively impact the business climate.<\/p>\n

Topping the list are worries that customers will tighten their purse strings and delay or postpone new spending on technology products and services. Half the companies surveyed cited this as a potential growth inhibitor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is especially concerning for small tech firms who often have a concentrated customer base and can be significantly impacted by the loss of just a few accounts,\u201d Herbert noted.<\/p>\n

The availability and cost of labor is another concern for tech businesses of all sizes. A full 43 percent of firms cited labor concerns in the latest survey, a 13 percentage point jump from Q3 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith an unemployment rate for IT occupations hovering around two percent and demand for tech workers growing across every industry the inability to find workers is a serious threat to growth,\u201d Herbert said.<\/p>\n

Organizations are rethinking\u001b their strategies for recruiting technology workers, according to the May 2017 CompTIA report \u201cAssessing the IT Skills Gap.\u201d These strategies include finding better ways to provide on-the-job experience and training, such as apprenticeships and internships; using professional certifications and credentials to validate skills and knowledge; and developing better methods to evaluate the skills of job candidates.<\/p>\n

The CompTIA IT Industry Business Confidence Index for Q3 is based on an online survey of 314 U.S. IT companies. The survey was conducted in late July. The complete report is available at CompTIA Insight & Tools.<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

About CompTIA<\/strong>
\nThe Computing Technology Industry Association<\/a> (CompTIA) is the world’s leading technology association, with approximately 2,000 member companies, 3,000 academic and training partners, over 100,000 registered users and more than two million IT certifications issued. CompTIA’s unparalleled range of programs foster workforce skills development and generate critical knowledge and insight \u2013 building the foundation for technology\u2019s future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The CompTIA IT Industry Business Confidence Index rebounded in Q3 as tech executives and business owners reported positive news on year-to-date revenue tracking and expressed optimism about the near-term future. The Q3 index increased by 3.2 points to 67.4 on a 100-point scale. A total of 314 U.S. technology companies participated in the survey, which has been published since 2009 by CompTIA, the world\u2019s leading technology association. This marks the first time in the history of the CompTIA IT Industry Business Confidence Index that a Q3 confidence reading improved over Q2 business sentiment. \u201cMore than three-quarters of the firms surveyed say they are on target or ahead of revenue goals for 2017, which certainly figures into the positive business sentiment,\u201d said Tim Herbert, senior vice president, research and market intelligence, CompTIA. All three components of the index showed positive movement in Q3. Executives\u2019 confidence in the U.S. economy stands at 62.4, up from 60 last quarter. Confidence in the IT industry rose to 70.6, up from 66.7. Self-assessment of their own company increased to 69.1 from 65.9 in Q2. Industry executives expect the momentum to continue, with a forecast for the overall index to climb again in Q4. Cautionary Notes Tempering the positive Q3 results are executives\u2019 concerns about factors that could negatively impact the business climate. Topping the list are worries that customers will tighten their purse strings and delay or postpone new spending on technology products and services. Half the companies surveyed cited this as a potential growth inhibitor. \u201cThis is especially concerning for small tech firms who often have a concentrated customer base and can be significantly impacted by the loss of just a few accounts,\u201d Herbert noted. The availability and cost of labor is another concern for tech businesses of all sizes. A full 43 percent of firms cited labor concerns in the latest survey, a 13 percentage point jump from Q3 2016. \u201cWith an unemployment rate for IT occupations hovering around two percent and demand for tech workers growing across every industry the inability to find workers is a serious threat to growth,\u201d Herbert said. Organizations are rethinking\u001b their strategies for recruiting technology workers, according to the May 2017 CompTIA report \u201cAssessing the IT Skills Gap.\u201d These strategies include finding better ways to provide on-the-job experience and training, such as apprenticeships and internships; using professional certifications and credentials to validate skills and knowledge; and developing better methods to evaluate the skills of job candidates. The CompTIA IT Industry Business Confidence Index for Q3 is based on an online survey of 314 U.S. IT companies. The survey was conducted in late July. The complete report is available at CompTIA Insight & Tools. ### About CompTIA The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is the world’s leading technology association, with approximately 2,000 member companies, 3,000 academic and training partners, over 100,000 registered users and more than two million IT certifications issued. CompTIA’s unparalleled range of programs foster workforce skills development and generate critical knowledge and insight \u2013 building the foundation for technology\u2019s future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1650,82,1638],"tags":[146],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25143"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25143"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25182,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25143\/revisions\/25182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}