ICT budgets continue to suffer - ahead of general staffing costs

Budgets for IT and telecoms are being cut ahead of staffing costs such as salaries, benefits and work jollies.

Although cost-cutting has been going on across all types of businesses, the high-tech trimming is going on because of companies' desire to make instant yet sustainable savings, according to Avaya, the company that commissioned the latest research.

Avaya's marketing director Tanya Steele said: "Companies are finding they've often made all the savings they can in their overheads and personnel resources and now they're turning to IT for a more long-term solution."

And while the current economic slowdown has affected both SMEs and larger companies, the research shows attitudes to cuts vary: while the majority of UK companies are looking to reduce their IT spend in the coming year, twice as many SMEs as larger businesses want to make savings in their telephony.

However, the nature of SMEs means they often fare better because they can react more quickly to changes in markets and customer demands.

The research, carried out by Benchmark, also suggests a possible solution may lie in converged communications – bringing multiple media together in a single system – allowing employers to boost efficiency while still lowering expenditure.

It's a solution that hasn't gone unnoticed. More and more vendors and resellers, not least Avaya, are turning to converged communications and 'pay as you go' network solutions to ensure customers maximise dwindling budgets.