Offering regional and national programs, CIO (and CSO) events bring together some of the most respected names and thought leaders in information technology and security. Presented by CIOs and other senior level executives, these invitation-only programs offer timely topics and strong networking. Learn More »
Public Council Teleconference: Application Rationalization — Hidden Costs and Smart Decisions
November 17 at 11:00 am US/Eastern (GMT-5)
Join Honorio Padrón, of The Hackett Group, who will share the drivers for companies to tackle application rationalization and the results of research that define the hidden cost of complexity. Additionally, we will discuss key decision milestones—to start or not, holding the course steady and fulfilling expectations.
Virtual Desktop Cost-Benefit Analysis — Michael Jacobs, Catlin Group
The analysis contained in this presentation measures the cost of everything from the machines and licenses to the infrastructure for virtual vs. traditional desktop environments.
Honor your best senior team members - Apply for the CIO Ones to Watch Award
Get well-earned public recognition for your top up-and-coming team members, your IT organization and your enterprise. Award winners will be announced, publicized and feted in May 2010, great timing to help attract new IT recruits to your company.
Learn more about the CIO Executive Council »March 04, 2008 — Computerworld —
When CompuCredit Corp. began feeling the sting of the subprime mortgage mess and resulting credit crunch toward the end of last year, CIO Guido Sacchi's IT organization was forced to absorb a 20 percent year-over-year hit to its annual IT budget.
But for Sacchi, that's where the similarities between handling the current economic slump and the one earlier this decade end.
Last time, IT budget-cutting was a one-time exercise. Now, Sacchi and his IT finance team are making weekly adjustments to the company's IT budget. They're using scenario planning to analyze changes in consumer spending and credit-market conditions, in order to roll with the business and fine-tune its IT spending plans on an ongoing basis.
"I think today as CIOs, we have more tools to respond to those [financial] challenges," he says.
The situation at CompuCredit illustrates that the current economic deceleration is different for IT than the recession that followed the dot-com bust.
For starters, many IT organizations have risen to the status of business partners, and IT's visible contributions to corporate revenue growth and efficiency gains have made senior management more selective about cutting IT investments. Indeed, unlike the previous economic downturn, where across-the-board IT cost-cutting was de rigueur, investments in certain technologies such as virtualization should continue to rise, thanks to the efficiency gains they generate.
Moreover, the shift to the use of IT contractors, from India to Singapore, has enabled IT leaders to scale back their contract labor without resorting to layoffs.
And finally, any slowdown in IT spending caused by a slumping U.S. economy may be offset, in part, by strong international growth among many multinationals.
To be sure, the industries most directly and adversely affected by the housing bust and subprime mortgage madness have tightened their 2008 IT spending plans. In mid-February, Forrester Research Inc. lowered its predictions for U.S. IT spending for the second time in two months, from a 4.6 percent growth estimate it issued in December to 2.8 percent.
But even within those businesses, "it's almost impossible to generalize IT spending changes by sector," says Howard Rubin, professor emeritus of computer science at Hunter College in New York. There are "microclimates" of economic impact and corresponding IT budget reactions that are occurring on a company-by-company basis, he explains.
There are stark differences in spending priorities now compared with the period following the dot-com bust.