Positive and Negative sentiment on the market, and how to square the circle

Let’s make sense of some conflicting perspectives.

Want positivity?  Let’s turn to CompTIA, whose report says eight in 10 U.S. small- and mid-sized business (SMB) respondents have expressed positive sentiments about the health of their business. 51% are holding steady, and 30% are thriving.

Want negativity?   Verizon Business earlier this month said that nearly nine in 10 respondents (89%) said they’re worried about the state of the U.S. economy, and more than four in five said they’re concerned about small businesses in the U.S. and the global economy.

Ask CompTIA about technology’s importance, and you learn that 62% of firms stated they believe tech is the primary factor and 31% a secondary factor in helping reach their strategic investments.  But ask Verizon about what’s being done, and only 29% of SMBs have transitioned to more digital or online operations in the past year, and 31% of SMB owners are cutting new tech investments.

More than 8 in 10 respondents said collaboration between IT and other departments increased in the last two years, according to a report from ManageEngine.   According to the report, more than one-third of decision makers said the most likely department to collaborate with other departments all of the time is IT, and more than three-quarters of decision makers said they think non-IT employees in their organization are now more knowledgeable about technology than they were before 2020.  

And, the CIO job gets more complicated.   Nine in 10 CIOs report that their roles and responsibilities have grown beyond technology to include areas traditionally associated with human resource and workforce management, sales and marketing, and sustainability and diversity, according to a survey by Lenovo.

It’s possible to be both positive and negative simultaneously.   The CompTIA questions ask about individual businesses, and the Verizon questions ask about the economy’s overall health.    While linked, they are not the same.   You can believe you have a well-built ship as you sail into a rocky storm.   

And that’s the lesson here.    The key takeaway is not to be overconfident during the storm, taking risks you can’t afford.  Extend that customers and the advice you give them.    The collaboration between IT and departments is increasing, and the job is getting harder.    Plan accordingly.