In most companies, the tech-buying committee has expanded beyond the technology functions and now includes members of internal-facing teams (Finance, Support, etc.) as well as external-facing teams (Business Development, Sales, Marketing, etc.), according to recent research from LinkedIn Marketing Solutions.

The report was based on data from a survey conducted in October 2016 of 5,470 global professionals who influenced, contributed to, owned budget for, made decisions about, or implemented one or more technology purchases for their company over the previous year.

On average, 44% of decision-makers on tech committees are in technology-focused roles (IT, Engineering, etc.), 23% are in external-facing roles, 21% are in back-office roles, and 12% are in other roles.

The influencers, budget owners, and implementers included in tech buying committees are similarly spread across different functional areas:

The average size of tech buying committees is larger among lager companies:

• 67% companies with 50 or fewer employees have three or fewer people involved in tech purchase decisions.
• 68% of companies with 5,001+ employees have four or more people involved in decisions.

Some 34% of younger Millennials (age 19-25) and 41% of older Millennials (age 26-35) surveyed say they are responsible for making some technology purchase decisions:

Respondents say they are more likely to consider a technology purchase if the sales rep understands their company's needs (90% agree) and shares content relevant to the decision-making process (78%):

About the research: The report was based on data from a survey conducted in October 2016 of 5,470 global professionals who influenced, contributed to, owned budget for, made decisions about, or implemented one or more technology purchases for their company over the previous year.