To enter the German-speaking Swiss SME market with a competitively priced IT workstation and infrastructure solution, companies require reliable cost benchmarks. Without accurate industry data, pricing decisions risk being misaligned with market expectations, affecting competitiveness and profitability. This study provides insights into IT expenditures across industries, helping businesses refine their pricing strategies. The research focuses on SMEs with up to 200 employees.

A survey was conducted among SMEs with 5 to 50 IT users to collect IT budget data from 41 companies. The study analysed historical and projected IT costs across industries, workforce structures, and IT department models. The data was cleaned and validated, then segmented to identify spending patterns and outliers. A comparative analysis was conducted to highlight differences in IT spending across various business models and IT setups

The study revealed key findings on IT cost trends among Swiss SMEs. Industry benchmarks showed significant variation in average IT costs per user across sectors, with Technology & IT and Financial Services incurring notably higher costs than the overall average. Workforce composition significantly impacted IT expenses. Hybrid workforces, needing dual infrastructure support, experienced the highest costs per user. In contrast, companies with mostly remote workforces were the most cost-efficient, exhibiting significantly lower costs per user. The structure of IT departments also influenced spending. Companies with mixed IT departments faced the highest costs per user due to coordination complexities. Conversely, organizations outsourcing to external IT departments managed to maintain comparatively lower costs. Lastly, the study identified companies with exceptionally high IT spending per user, suggesting potential inefficiencies or overinvestment in IT solutions. These insights provide a strong foundation for developing tailored pricing strategies for diverse companies, enhancing their financial efficiency and competitiveness in the market.