Service Provider Confidence Index – Sage Gauge

The Sage Research Inc. May 2004 index edged down slightly from its March all-time high of 55, but remains in “high” territory (above 50), and is up a full 17 index points from a year ago. Modest declines in the indices for capital spending, revenue, and employment were responsible for the fall. The sub-indices of service development spending and industry conditions rose this month, however.

The Service Provider Confidence Index is a tracking study with data collected bimonthly about both current conditions and expectations regarding spending on capital equipment, spending on product and service development, revenue, employment, investor confidence and overall. The overall “expectations” index recovered from its slight dip in March, continuing its overall upward trend of the last 12 months. It is now up 13 points from its level of a year ago (May 2003). Gains in the subindices of capital spending, service development spending, employment and industry conditions led the way. The subindices of revenue and investor confidence fell slightly, however. For more details about the methodology, visit Sage Research at www.sageresearch.com.