At the end of 2008, I attended a webinar about a study that was done on North American distribution companies and their technology outlook for 2009. I have to admit, I didn't expect the results. It dawned on me that this is worth sharing! It turns out that in these tough times, companies are working even harder to gain a competitve advantage. Here are a few points (based distributors of all sizes):

• Overall about 50% of companies plan to maintain their technology spending (on ERP, BI, PIM, CRM, Webshop, etc...).
• Overall about 30% of companies plan on increasing their technology spending on '09.
• The biggest area of increase comes from companies sized under $50M in sales.
• Internet storefront/web-based ordering has the largest expectancy for companies to invest in in '09.

Top expected business outcomes from technology spending:

1. Improve employee productivity.
2. Grow revenue.
3. Improve customer satisfaction.

What's your technology outlook for 2009?