CompTIA IT Industry Business Confidence Index Slides Back

News provided by

Jul 20, 2015, 09:30 ET

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., July 20, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The CompTIA IT Industry Business Confidence Index took a step back in Q3, but remains in positive territory for 2015 as a majority of IT executives say their company is at or ahead of revenue targets for the year.

The Q3 Index came in at 60.4 on a 100-point scale, falling 2.8 points from Q2. The Index is based on IT executives' opinions of the U.S economy, the IT industry and their own company. It is published quarterly by CompTIA, the IT industry trade association.

The rating of the IT industry experienced the largest drop in Q3 (down 3.4 points to 63.5), slightly edging out the rating for the overall economy (53.4, down 2.8 points from Q2). The self-assessment of respondents' own company decreased a modest 0.2 percentage points, to 64.2 on the 100-point scale.

"This suggests most business owners remain relatively more upbeat about their own firm's prospects," said Tim Herbert, senior vice president, research and market intelligence, CompTIA.

In fact, seven in 10 firms surveyed report being on target or tracking ahead of their sales goals for 2015.

"Being on target likely means you are doing well," Herbert noted. "The positive momentum in the economy over the last few years may have prompted companies to bump up their sales goals for this year."

"The findings of the Business Confidence Index are generally in line with what we're seeing in the marketplace," said MJ Shoer, president and virtual chief technology officer, Jenaly Technology Group, Inc., Portsmouth, N.H., and chair of the CompTIA Board of Directors. "For ourselves and our clients, the outlook is certainly positive and concerns about the overall economy continue to decrease."

The 'Q3 Curse'
Over the past six years of the CompTIA IT Industry Business Confidence Index the Q3 reading declined from the preceding quarter each year. This pattern is unique to Q3, as all other quarters have recorded gains a majority of the time.

This year's Q3 downturn may be due in part to mixed messages about economic factors. While key indicators such as employment, housing starts, inflation and personal income have been generally positive through the first half of 2015, other factors may be causing jitters.

"It's easy to get caught up in many of the news reports that have a negative tone," Herbert said. "Even if the news doesn't affect your company directly, it can have a psychological impact and cause worry about a spillover impact from some of these external factors."

"I always find the 'Q3 Curse' funny, because for our business Q3 is traditionally one of our best quarters, especially for project work," Shoer said.

Executives and professionals at 381 U.S. IT companies were surveyed in late June for the latest CompTIA IT Industry Business Confidence Index. The full report is available at no cost with a simple registration at http://www.comptia.org/resources/comptia-it-business-confidence-index-q3-2015.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130107/DC38135LOGO

SOURCE CompTIA