Some improvements can be done in small increments that aren't disruptive and wring more value out of existing IT investments, Wettemann says. Projects as simple as training workers on how to manage e-mail in folders can boost productivity. "Things that touch the user have a direct impact on productivity," she says.
Streamlining the supply chain by making it easier to share information is another area where incremental tweaking can make a big impact, Wettemann says. Not so for infrastructure upgrades: "If it's not broken, don't fix it," she says. For that reason, infrastructure hardware and software companies are likely to have a difficult time weathering the slowdown, so watch for bargains.
Other opportunities for savings, says Shaklee's Harris, include consumer-oriented online services such as Google Desktop, which is "cheap compared with Microsoft's alternative." This might not be good for all parts of the company, he says, but could be good for some. Ditto for Amazon's online storage offering. "Amazon offers tremendously cheap off-site storage," Harris says. "You may not be able to use that for real-time processes, but it's good for backup."
NCR has been squeezing costs out of IT over the last few years by replacing expensive licensed software with open source alternatives whenever possible, says Kumar, such as switching from Microsoft SQL Server to the MySQL database. Also, instead of sending users to off-site training classes, training at NCR is done online, a move that has saved considerable travel costs. And, as others are advising, NCR's IT managers have been instructed to look for savings anytime vendor contracts expire. "We'll start evaluating what contracts expire next year" and look to negotiate better deals with those vendors, he says.'THIS HAS ROI'
Swinerton, a commercial construction company in the San Francisco area, hasn't been directly affected by the mortgage mess in the residential home sector, says VP and director of IT Larry Mathews, at least not yet. Its construction deals for this year are set, he says. but company executives are less certain about the economy's impact on commercial construction in 2009.
Still, Mathews thinks his practical IT strategy--based on tying spending to business goals--makes it less likely IT will be cut, or cut as severely, if there is a downturn. Swinerton's 2008 IT budget of $8 million represents an increase of about 28% over 2007 but is still less than 1% of the company's total revenue. And that's after many years of very small increases primarily related to small IT purchases and pay raises, Mathews says.
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