ChannelVision Jan-Feb 2017

22 / 76

Small Businesses
Optimistic
For 2017
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22 ChannelVision | January - February, 2017
BusinessAnalyst
Staffing Continues Climb
As more evidence of the importance
of business performance impact when
discussing IT purchasing with customers,
the percentage of business analysts as
a percentage of the IT staff has risen for
the third year in a row after this position
suffered a retreat during the early part
of the recovery period, show figures from
Computer Economics. And the research
firm expects the business analyst role will
continue to grow in importance.
“As cloud computing and virtualization
lessen the need for data center staff,
a greater percentage of the IT staff is
shifting to the business side of the IT
organization,” said Computer Economics
researchers. “Business analysts have an
important role in this shift.”
While the business analyst function ap-
pears to have been in retreat during the eco-
nomic recovery period, declining from 7.4
percent in 2012 to a low of 6.3 percent in
2013, the decline may have been deceptive,
said Computer Economics. “It is likely other
functions were regaining lost ground
as opposed to there being a reduc-
tion in business analyst headcount.”
Job titles for business analysts
within companies may vary, but could
include any of the following: business
systems analyst, business process
analyst, enterprise system analyst
or MIS analyst. “The most important
attribute,” said the research firm, “is
that these professionals are busi-
ness-oriented first, and technology-
focused secondarily.”
Despite a dip in holiday sales expec-
tations, small business sentiment over-
all seems to be improving heading into
2017, according to Capital One’s latest
Spark Business Barometer, tracking 400
small business owners’ financial condi-
tions, economic perceptions and hiring
plans, among other indicators.
Half of business owners reported
“good” or “excellent” business condi-
tions in their area heading into 2017,
an increase of 8 points compared to
the first half of 2016 (41 percent) and
slightly above average since the Barom-
eter began tracking business conditions
in 2013. What’s more, 12 percent of
small business owners believe their fi-
nancial position will be “much better” in
the early half of 2017, up three points
from earlier in 2016.
Larger firms, in general, are more
optimistic than smaller firms, with 49
percent of businesses with more than $1
million in annual revenue reporting im-
proved financial positions versus 30 per-
cent of business owners with less than
$1 million in annual revenue. All told,
59 percent of larger small businesses
reported “excellent” or “good” business
conditions in their area, compared to 48
percent of very small businesses.
Female business owners also are
more encouraged by local conditions
than their male counterparts, with 55
percent saying business conditions are
“excellent/good,” compared to 46 per-
cent of men saying the same.
One possible source of the positive
sentiment, 38 percent of businesses
reported increased sales during the
second half of 2016, an increase of
6 points over the first half of the year.
Even so, only 23 percent of small busi-
ness owners plan to hire new employ-
ees in the first half of 2017, slightly
down from earlier in the year. According
to the study, the top three concerns of
small business owners in the coming
year include taxes (47 percent), manag-
ing cash flow (31 percent) and keeping
up with technology (25 percent).
Buyers Side
Business Analysts as Percentage of IT Staff
How does your
organization handle
adoption of new
technology trends?
Source: Computer Economics
Corporate Softwar
Source: 451 Research
Outsourcing Prof
Source: Computer Econo
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
0%
4%
8% 7.4%
6.3% 6.6%
7.2% 7.3%
12%
Median
Source: Cloudian
When do you intend to deploy cloud storage to support
specific applications running on premises?
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Small
(1 to 499 employees)
Medium
(500 to 2,499 employees)
Large
(2,500 or more employees)
Small
(1 to 499 employees)
Medium
(500 to 2,499 employees)
Large
(2,500 or more employees)
Small
(1 to 499 employees)
Medium
(500 to 2,499 employees)
Large
(2,500 or more employees)
We have no plans toadopt hybrid cloud
storage
Considering
adoption more than
1 year out
Planning implement
within thenext year
62%
77%
82%
19%
20%
14%
19%
3%
5%
0%
20%
40%
15%
60%
80%
More Spe
How would you characteriz
software over the next 90
Frequency
Level
Net Growth
Trend
Volatility
Cost
Success
Service
Success
Low