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Strategy Session: Armchair Economics: Page 2 of 2

So what's a well-intentioned IT planner to do? Charge full speed ahead with new initiatives, or look hard at the dismal economic outlook and hunker down? For healthy companies with the resources, I say charge ahead. Most of the uncertainty is short-term. Whatever happens with Congress, it'll have a lot less effect on the economy than most politicians and even most economists think. Wage pressures in this global economy won't last (much to the disappointment of my personal bottom line) and even if they do, the Fed's going to have to start paying attention to all those bond traders, who tend to be the realists (if somewhat shortsighted).

So while the impending uncertainty paralyzes your competition, prepare for a better 2008. That's right, you heard it here first--2007 will be an inflection point and technology-savvy companies that make their IT investments over the next 12 months will reap the rewards as the economy resumes its clip. Now all we have to do is convince the enterprise IT vendor community to do its part and increase its investment in product development.

Art Wittmann is editor in chief of Network Computing. Write to him at [email protected].