Network World (03/07/12) Kenneth Corbin

A new report from the Technology CEO Council concludes that the companies that best leverage information technology will account for most new jobs and propel the next wave of economic growth. New technologies such as remotely managed computing infrastructure options and the increasing number of cloud applications have lowered the entry barriers for innovative young startups to compete in a global economy, according to the study from TCC. “It is a lot easier to start a business today than ever before,” says Dell chief executive Michael Dell, chairman of TCC.

The study found that small services firms with fewer than 100 workers that rely heavily on IT to run their business employed between 5% and 6% of all U.S. workers from 2002 to 2008, but accounted for 34% of the new jobs created over that time. The study’s authors noted that the few businesses that emerge as high-growth, transformative companies will leverage technology throughout their business operations, lowering the cost of back-office operations such as payroll and procurement, driving into new markets, and making better-informed, data-driven decisions.