A recent survey by Gartner, Inc indicates that many business leaders are now planning for growth rather than looking to reduce costs.
In the survey, 42% of business leaders answered that they were concentrating on growing revenue rather than cutting costs, with 29% viewing growth as their key goal.
This indicates to me that confidence is returning in some areas of business, it may take time, the majority of commentators are predicting that recovery will be a long, slow and painful process.
However, IT will have a key role in enabling businesses to grow in the post-recession period and IT organisations should be planning now for how they will support the business when growth returns.
This may be difficult with many IT departments having suffered head count and budget cuts, but planning now will enable IT organisations to be ready when the business starts to grow again. This is supported by the survey which showed that 43% of business leaders planned to increase spend on IT, with only 13% targeting IT for further cost cutting.
I think the message is clear for IT organisations, the recovery will come, it may be slow, but plan now to ensure that you are ready to underpin the business growth.
Mike Hill – Head of Commercial Services – Itica Consulting – March 2010