Perspectives & Strategy

I am continually researching what various commentators are saying about IT strategy and its implementation in the corporation. This morning I happened on sustainable strategies within the IT department.

When budgets are tight there a tendency to shred projects, yet this may be the worst thing that you can do for the future of your corporation. According to Virginia Garcia “Large-scale enterprise projects are foundering as IT spending appetite and business sponsors are distracted by survival tactics”. There can be a tendency in a tight economy to shed everything that is non-essential, in fact Anne McCrory in her article “Mid Market Strategy for 2009” states that the CIO should “Plan and Identify what projects can be dropped”. The typical response is ‘I must cut everything to the bone’.

Having managed IT within the confines of a tight budget I have seen this typical response by many corporations I would say that there are definitely some lessons to be learnt.

Do not cut R&D budgets. Whether your corporation is developing software, or any other type of product, research and development represents the lifeblood of the corporation, like a mother looking after the babies. Times are tight, but significant opportunities exist for those that are prepared take advantage of them. Hold off on the development and that opportunity may not present itself in 18 months time.

Do not cut back on Marketing effort. I am only an IT person, but even I know that focused marketing at this time will achieve results. I know that when a company is economically challenged then customer won at that time have a tendency to be more loyal in the good times.

Do not cut Business Intelligence. Business Intelligence leveraged in the hard times can aid in focusing the marketing efforts. More intelligence is needed now than ever before.

In conclusion I will say that everyone I have talked with this week has encouraging news about 2009′s prospects. Some of the comments that I have heard include:

“Q4 2008 was down, but not as much as expected”,

“In December our sales picked back up from the low of October and November”

“While budgets are tight, we will be going ahead with our development plans – we need cost effective solutions”.

This is the advantage of good Business Intelligence. According to one recruiter “IT recruitment is up for the first time in 18 months”! You need to really know the state of your micro-economy, there is no such thing as a global downturn. It is the need for cost effective solutions that is paramount.