Information technology is helping small businesses survive and grow, despite a challenging business climate, a new report has found.

CDW Corporation released a report this week that outlines the role of IT in helping small business owners. The 2008 CDW Small Business Driver's Seat Report also identified which challenges and principals small businesses consider most important. Results are based on responses from 555 owners or principals from companies employing between 5 and 99 people.

It found that when companies employ 50 to 100 people, they face a critical development phase, or a management inflection point. Management structures become increasingly complex and IT use becomes more sophisticated, CDW reported. That's when small business owners believe that IT applications related to expansion are essential for growth, according to the report. Key applications focus on business intelligence, e-commerce, online marketing, data warehousing, and business continuity, CDW found.

"Small business owners have always needed many skills at the outset but then they learn to organize and delegate as their businesses mature -- which has never been an easy transition," Maria Sullivan, VP for small business sales at CDW, said in a statement.

The report concludes that business owners' comfort with IT correlate strongly with business growth rates. Among respondents who consider IT a strategic investment, 68% reported average annual revenue growth over 10% in the past five years. That compares to 36% of respondents who said they are conservative and stick with technologies that are proven useful.

Sixty-six percent of the survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that IT is a key contribution to success and growth. Twenty-six percent of respondents said they regretted not taking full advantage of the technology they already own. That was the most common regret cited in the survey.

Minority- and women-owned businesses are more likely than non-minority-owned businesses to view IT as a strategic investment, but, as companies approach the threshold of employing 100 people or more, there is an increased belief that IT is a strategic investment, CDW said.

Still, only 34% of small business senior executives surveyed said they are responsible for IT decision-making and support. Fifteen percent said their company has at least one dedicated IT professional.

"Small business owners and key personnel do not all need to be IT professionals -- they only need to be astute in how they manage IT," Sullivan said. "There are associations, publications, analysts, and vendors that can be valuable resources as a company grows, and the study shows that high-growth businesses tend to hire their own IT professionals early."

The full report can be downloaded from CDW's Web site.