The past few weeks have undoubtedly caused trepidation, angst and downright fear in the business world. With global bailouts under way, increasing job loss, and declining stock markets, the IT sector is wondering where it fits in with this mess.
Some media of late have indicated rough times for IT. However, we are heartened by what we’re seeing from analysts.
While groups such as Gartner have recently downgraded their outlook for technology spending, these downgrades aren’t as bad as you probably think. Gartner still says IT spending will increase 2.3 percent in 2009. That figure is down more than 100 percent from previous estimates. But given the recent credit crisis, 2.3 percent growth isn’t bad at all.
In fact, the 2.3 percent increase is a “worst-case scenario,” according to analyst Peter Sondergaard, who was quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle. Forrester Research has actually issued more bullish projections (albeit a lower “worst-case scenario.”)
The current economic situation is often compared to the 2001 recession. However, at least for technology spending, there is no comparison to those dark times. “This is going to be extremely mild in comparison,” says Forrester analyst Andrew Bartels.
What all of this is really going to mean is that IT is going to have to do more with nearly the same resources. Let's face it. Regardless of flat or reduced IT budgets, companies are going to continue to expand their businesses. And that is going to mean new revenue-generating applications and supporting infrastructure that will need to be deployed and managed by IT. To support this, IT will have to review existing processes and procedures and eliminate non-essential steps and optimize as much as possible.
The next thing they are going to have to do is look for ways to automate time-consuming, labor-intensive tasks. This will be a tremendous opportunity for innovative vendors who can provide automation solutions with "no-brainer" pricing. It will be an interesting time for such vendors.
With these strategies in place, IT operations can thrive in a down economy, despite what some media are saying. In NASCAR, there are many flags to alert drivers of racetrack conditions. A red flag, for instance, means “end of race.” A yellow one means “caution.”
Too many people are waving the red flag. We believe it is time to get the yellow flag back on the track.
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