Investing Out of a Downturn - I See Clouds Ahead

There remains a lingering chill from one of the harshest financial downturns in living memory and storm clouds remain on the horizon. With economic uncertainty prevailing, companies that reduced spending heavily in the depths of recession are unlikely to sanction significant investment while the short to medium term forecast remains unclear. Business costs have been severed wherever possible and this has taken place in advance of a similar belt-tightening process in the public sector that is yet to fully unwind. The feeling persists that brighter skies will take some time to return.

In times past the technology budget would have been among the first casualties for firms reacting to an economic slowdown. However, the IT community has not suffered this time around in the same way as in previous recessions, when investment was seen as discretionary rather than critical. Major players across industry are still funding large IT programmes both in-house and outsourced. With money still tight though, achieving...

 

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