Pollyanna and the Technology Market

The technology sector has been nothing but doom and gloom recently, but a recent report by the Aite Group shines a bit more light on to what is a fairly complex market situation. The report focuses on spending in the capital markets, and considering the spectacular turmoil in that sector over the past year, its a particularly interesting one to read. The skinny on the report is that IT spending will fall by on average 5 percent in 2009. A figure that is fall less severe than one might have expected, yet the logic behind the modesty of this prediction is pretty sound.

Firstly, just because legendary firms disappear and people are laid off, does not mean that information stops being processed. In fact in many cases, mergers and corporate downsizing create more information and more processing, though this is, of course, counterbalanced to some degree by a tail off in new applications and activity. But the initial information volumes remain fairly constant - and by their nature grow incrementally regardless.To put it another way, business via the Web, as well as processing documentation, will remain with us recession or no recession. For sure some expensive upgrade projects will get pushed to the back burner; some firms will be so strapped for cash that they have to cut, cut, cut regardless of the long-term impact. But in general, life goes on, and life in 2009 means more Web interaction, increased use of mobile devices, customer self-service initiatives, electronic forms, documents, and all the related workflows.

To be clear about this - we are in a tough year and it will likely get worse before it gets better - I am no Pollyanna. As businesses we will all need to keep an eye on the budget. My Work at CMS Watch will (and increasingly is) becoming focused on helping our clients to save money, and to make more of what they already have.

Yet, there is no value to be had in painting a picture darker than it actually need be, and as buyers and users of technology, 2009 really could be a great year for you. A year to reassess what you have and what you need. A year in which your leverage as a buyer has never been greater. A year in which good business cases, cases that promise and deliver real business value, will get the attention they deserve. In other words, a year in which content technologies such as enterprise content management, portals and Web content management can really shine and help you to meet the business goals and challenges you face ahead.The technology sector has been nothing but doom and gloom recently, but a recent report by the Aite Group shines a bit more light on to what is a fairly complex market situation. The report focuses on spending in the capital markets, and considering the spectacular turmoil in that sector over the past year, its a particularly interesting one to read...