To boldly go where no man has gone before
As 2009 comes to a close, many of our colleagues are taking into considerations two, prima facie opposing, business realities into account while finalizing the technology budget for 2010.
The new economic paradigm points towards tightening of the budget. There is unprecedented respect for liquidity and savings among both corporates and individuals. Companies have increased profitability by reducing costs and squeezing productivity out of existing assets.
However, there is a significant pent up demand with IT cutting down on discretionary budget across the board for more than a year now. Also companies have gone too far in keeping liquidity – as per WSJ, 500 largest nonfinancial U.S. firms, by total assets, hold about $1 trillion in cash and short-term investments. Last, the market continues to evolve e.g. in payments industry new players have established a significant presence in owning client relationships (refer to my paper on payment industry at http://www.infosys.com/industries/banking-capital-markets/electronic-payments.pdf) .
Above two factors are going to push budget decisions based on clearer business case and tangible, well articulated justification. This is the time which would distinguish visionary CIOs from also ran. CIOs that can convince the board based on well justified investment strategies have a lifetime opportunity to make their companies stronger and much more competitive before others catch up.
