Fred Harteis Editors Note:  This is a good article because it gives the latest statistics of technology spending. Anyone with an interest in Business and technology could benefit from this article.

 Evidence is mounting that tech spending among small- and medium-sized business may be flattening after several years of providing safe haven to tech providers burned by a severe spending slump among large customers.

On Tuesday, Merrill Lynch released a survey conducted by Computer Reseller News, a trade newspaper, which found that the small- and medium-sized business market "may be faltering." The survey index, which tracks buying intentions, declined for the third consecutive month.

"Sales expectations dropped in six of the seven major hardware and software categories surveyed, with the volatile Unix server category being the only exception," wrote Merrill analyst Steven Milunovich.

The survey measures buying intentions for desktop and notebook computers, networking hardware and software, peripherals, PC servers and Unix servers. The biggest month-to-month nosedive in buying intentions was in networking software, while PC servers lost the least ground.

Also on Wednesday, JupiterResearch, a division of Jupiter reported that small-business tech spending will be flat in 2005. Jupiter characterizes small businesses as those with fewer than 250 employees.

There are millions of small companies in the U.S., which represent collective buying power in the billions. Last year, the small- and medium-sized business market represented more than 30% of all IT spending and more than half of the growth.

IBM has also pledged to devote more technical and sales resources to reaching SMB customers, which already account for about 20% of overall sales.

The question is whether IBM, HP and others are chasing a market that's tapping out.

About: Fred is president of Team and Harteis International. 

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