Businesses Eye Cost Cuts in Technology Finds Survey Commissioned by Foxit

Study Finds Organizations May Seek Relief from Economic Challenges by Replacing Overpriced Incumbent Technology That Has Been Slow to Innovate

FREMONT, Calif., April 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Foxit, a leading provider of innovative PDF and eSignature products and services, helping knowledge workers to increase their productivity and do more with documents, today announced findings of an Enterprise Strategy Group report investigating how senior executives are navigating tech investments in the current macroeconomic climate. The report, commissioned by Foxit and entitled "Balancing Tech Investment and Cost Cutting in the Face of Macroeconomic Uncertainty," shows executives are keen to reign in technology spending in the face of rising inflation and interest rates and a slowing global economy.

The report leverages survey findings from over 500 VP and C-suite-level business leaders in North America and Europe and finds that executives are prioritizing cost cutting to maintain profitability and avoid more extreme measures like layoffs. The survey was conducted in November of last year.

The survey found that business leaders are extremely concerned about the current economic environment. With high interest and inflation rates driving up the cost of goods and services, organizations may be forced to cancel plans to purchase new software or hardware. Respondents also indicated that they are keen to replace incumbent software technology solutions that enjoy monopolistic market conditions and have been slow to innovate.  In fact, over 70% of those surveyed indicated that cost-optimized productivity software could greatly improve their organization's bottom line and improve output.

"This research is extremely timely as it gives us a glimpse into the minds of business leaders just when macroeconomic uncertainty is as high as it has been in 15 years" said Adam DeMattia, Senior Director of Custom Research at Enterprise Strategy Group. "The data doesn't just allow us to assess how concerned leaders are, but we are able to glean what actions they are taking in response to these challenging business conditions."

Download the full report at: https://www.foxit.com/whitepaper/2023/balancing-tech-investments-and-cost-cutting/

Some key findings of the report include:

• Business leaders forecast a 61% chance we will experience a recession in 2023.
• 83% of respondents indicated the recent rise in interest rates has led to cutbacks on spending/growth plans.
• 71% reported the rate of innovation delivered by incumbent productivity software vendors is lagging other competing vendors and enterprise technologies.
• 70% feel incumbent productivity software vendors enjoy monopolistic market conditions that allow them to overcharge customers.
• Though organizations have a strong preference for cutting tech spending, headcount reductions are still expected.
• Respondents forecast a 38% chance they will have to lay off people on their team within the next year. Among those that expected layoffs, executives on average forecast approximately 40% of their staff would be affected.
• 74% of respondents believed users would be receptive to easy-to-use/functionally equivalent productivity software alternatives.

"With high inflation rates, economic slowdowns and potential layoffs, organizations are having to scrutinize and defend every dollar spent in today's current business environment," said DeeDee Kato, VP of Corporate Marketing at Foxit. "The ESG survey highlights a critical call to action for organizations to demand a shift away from overpriced incumbent technology providers who have refused to adjust their pricing and rate of innovation to match need of their customers. At Foxit we are focused on providing our customers meaningful benefits including a dramatic reduction in licensing fees, major savings in IT support, quantifiable improvements in security, and valuable gains in employee productivity and experience."

Foxit will also host a webinar based on the findings from the ESG study on Tuesday, April 4, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. During the presentation, guest speaker Adam Demattia, Senior Director of Custom Research at Enterprise Strategy Group, will share the key findings of the research, including how technology decision makers are strategizing to maintain profitability and the criteria they are using to determine technology spending. The Webinar will also discuss how switching legacy software can help organizations stay on target with their technology spending and cost-cutting initiatives during economic uncertainty.

Register for the webinar https://www.foxit.com/webinar/2023/balancing-tech-investments-and-cost-cutting/

About Enterprise Strategy Group
TechTarget's Enterprise Strategy Group is an integrated technology analysis, research, and strategy firm providing market intelligence, actionable insight, and go-to-market content services to the global technology community. It is increasingly recognized as one of the world's leading analyst firms in helping technology vendors make strategic decisions across their go-to-market programs through factual, peer-based research. TechTarget, Inc. is the global leader in purchase intent-driven marketing and sales services focused on delivering business impact for enterprise technology companies. https://www.techtarget.com/

About Foxit 
Foxit is a leading provider of innovative PDF and eSignature products and services, helping knowledge workers to increase their productivity and do more with documents. Foxit delivers easy-to-use desktop software, mobile apps, and cloud services that allow users to create, edit, fill, and sign documents through their integrated PDF Editor and eSign offerings. Foxit enables software developers to incorporate innovative PDF technology into their applications via powerful, multi-platform Software Developer Kits (SDK).
Foxit has over 700 million users and has sold to over 485,000 customers, ranging from SMBs to global enterprises, located in more than 200 countries. The company has offices all over the world, including locations in the U.S., Europe, Australia, and Asia. For more information, please visit https://foxit.com.