China and other emerging countries are spending significantly on IT and may be well on their way to surpassing the U.S. in infrastructure and systems. This will only be accelerated as the economy drives U.S. firms to slow IT investments. Accenture recently completed a study showing that 60% of enterprise systems are fully depreciated.
It seems that this in fact may be the best time to exert pressure on your competitors and get ahead while they are cutting costs. Companies that understand the importance of business and technology convergence understand this and are more likely to get ahead or widen the gap between competitors.
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What is happening at your firm? Their response to the current economic downturn may be a signal for you and your career.
What is happening at your firm? Their response to the current economic downturn may be a signal for you and your career.
Excellent point. While it is very tempting to cut IT spending I believe in the long run it ends up being a costly mistke. It's kind of like your car - sure, you can choose not to do oil changes for a while but more than likely that next one is going to be really expensive.
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't mean IT spending should go unchecked. Like most everything else you need to have the crucial conversations and ask the tough questions about just what it is you are spending your money on. Does it really add value to the organization? Does it help move you forward on your business strategy? Are there people / process changes that are preventing you from seeing some of these benefits (sometimes technology is NOT the answer...or the problem)?
This is a great example of why having IT aligned with the your business strategy is so important. IT cannot simple be a cost center. Keeping the lights on is important but if your IT shop isn't working towards making that a much more cost effective process so they can focus on being a strategic asset then they are prime targets for cost cutting in these challenging economic times.