If you're new to Cheap Hosting Directory, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Boston, Massachusetts - (Cheap Web Hosting Directory) - October 5, 2007 - The AMR Research and National Retail Federation has released its Fourth Annual Retail IT Budget Study, indicating that increased efficiency will drop IT operational expenses by 4% in 2007.

”The Retail IT Budget Benchmarking Study, 2006-2007” study indicates spending on IT capital projects will increase a moderate 3% in 2007, but notes that increased efficiency in areas like telecommunications, store networking, store hardware, and packaged enterprise software caused a 4% drop in operational expenses in 2007. Areas of noteworthy planned capital expenditure growth for 2007 include store hardware (18%), capitalized software development (15%), software infrastructure (85%), and capitalized project resources (38%).

Rob Garf, Vice President and General Manager of retail strategies at AMR Research offered, ”Retailers are currently taking a short break to digest the aggressive technology investments that they made in packaged applications over the past few years. But even while retailers implement this influx of technology, great operational gains are being achieved from the utilization of new broadband networks, in-store hardware, and third-party software.”

Other highlights of this study include: — The role of packaged applications in retail continues to expand: retailers anticipate 60% of overall IT spending will be focused on implementing and supporting packaged software in 2007. — The retailers surveyed are allocating 94% of IT budgets to North America as opposed to the rest of the world, indicating that they are either expanding overseas slower than planned or technology budgets are owned outside their core IT department. — Budgets for store hardware leases jumped 23% in 2007 as retailers began expanding their hardware portfolios to include kiosks, handhelds, and electronic signage to improve interactions during the customer experience and increase store associate productivity.

Twenty-three chief information officers from leading retail companies representing billions of dollars in the world economy participated in this study. Each CIO submitted specific budget details on operating expenses, capital spending, and labor costs into a structured retail technology budgeting tool.

Research and Advice that Matters: AMR Research is an advisory firm focused on supply chain, enterprise applications, and infrastructure. Founded in 1986, AMR Research provides advisory services and peer networking opportunities to supply chain and technology professionals in the manufacturing and retail sectors.

For more information about this report, please visit: www.amrresearch.com.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.