IT Spending in a Recession? Plus Computer Solutions Ltd.
Posted by Glen Mund on Thu, Oct 16, 2008 @ 02:57 PM
by Larry Blitz, TEC Technology Evaluation Centers, http://blog.technologyevaluation.com
With little doubt that the US economy is in or near recession, the big question now is whether we're heading into a global credit freeze and financial meltdown. If the worst happens, all bets are off-we'll be pretty much in uncharted territory. But if we do manage to escape with nothing more severe than a typical recession, what approach should you take towards IT spending?
The usual knee-jerk response in a recession is to cut back or freeze IT spending. But is that necessarily the best strategy?
I can't give you a definitive answer, nor can anyone else. Much depends on the particular circumstances surrounding your organization, and there are many to consider: your business model, the industry you're in, your competitive position, the financial health of your company, and the state of your IT infrastructure are some of the major ones.
But I can draw on a couple of analogies. One of them comes from the advertising industry, where I spent many years as an advertising sales representative. In difficult economic times, many advertisers tend to cut back on ad spending, some dramatically so. But there are other companies that don't cut back. With their competitors lowering their advertising profiles and ducking for cover, these companies see it as an opportunity to grab market share and emerge ahead of the pack when the good economic times return. And more often than not, it's a winning strategy.
Read the whole article here: http://blog.technologyevaluation.com/blog/2008/10/08/should-you-cut-back-or-freeze-it-spending-in-a-recession/
Plus Computer Solutions Ltd.