According to a recent HP survey of more than 500 IT managers at small businesses across the United States, 93 percent of companies have placed cost concerns over the best IT solutions, leading 89 percent of those companies to experience IT-related problems.

The study, conducted by Wakefield Research, uncovered that the top three IT problems reported by cost-conscious companies are low-performing hardware (46 percent), out-of-date hardware (37 percent) and unreliable hardware (23 percent), leading to suboptimal computing efficiency and an overall loss of productivity.

The survey also revealed that 54 percent of small businesses cite summer as the peak season for working remotely. With 58 percent of IT managers stating that they have not invested in network security this year, companies will find they are adding pressure and potentially greater security risks to their already stressed IT networks.

Other key survey findings include:

- Computer processing speed (35 percent) and reliability (19 percent) top IT managers’ lists for most needed computer improvements. These practical considerations weigh more heavily on managers’ minds than energy efficiency (9 percent).

- When given the chance to tell their chief executive officers how to solve common concerns, IT managers recommend upgrading to newer and better quality components (29 percent), investing more money into IT systems (21 percent), and spending more time planning and researching the best solutions for their company’s needs (13 percent).

- Forty-one percent of IT managers think that planning their company’s IT strategy is the best use of their time, compared to 11 percent of managers who believe their time is best spent on hardware support.

- One-fifth of IT managers complained that their biggest computer problem is a lack of vendor assistance when problems occur.