Hold on Tight, We Are In For A Bumpy Ride: IT Strategies For Navigating the Approaching Economic Downturn
by Avaya
The negative drumbeat in the financial media has been increasing in intensity over the last several quarters. The bursting of the housing market bubble and the subsequent seizing up of the credit markets in the US and across the globe have been the lead stories. The failure of Bear Sterns and the Federal Reserve and Treasury Departments brokering of shotgun mergers seems to have marked a turn away from the abyss of a total collapse of the financial markets. Yet the impact of the housing and financial market crisis seems to be spreading to other sectors of the US economy and is likely to begin affecting a wide range of businesses. In a recent Fuqua School of Management Survey of CFOs, 54% of CFOs said that the US is now in recession with another 24% of the remaining CFOs expecting a recession this year. Furthermore, this same group of CFOs expected capital spending to slow to a 3.3% rise with inflation of nearly 3% eating up this increase, with recovery not expected until late 2009. For the next 12 to 18 months, we are likely to see a tightening of capital and expense budgets with a significant impact on IT projects and staffing. This paper is intended to explore some of the implications of the emerging economic downturn and to lay out prudent IT management strategies for proactively navigating through the downturn.
dubois said:
September 26th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Excellent data. It seems just as important to find new ways to differentiate your company and maintain a strong brand of service when dollars are tight, and not just trim costs. What do you think of this approach:
http://www.avaya.com/master-usa/en-us/resource/assets/whitepapers/Thriving%20in%20Econ%20Downturn%20MIS3995%20final.pdf