CIOs Explore IT Sourcing Options

Maximising Opportunities in the Current Environment

It might be tempting to go all-out to reduce IT spending - but be careful. Responding to pressure by agreeing to cut IT spending is honourable, but if you do no more, then the inevitable result is that IT budgets will be trimmed accordingly. The more you cut back, the more those cuts will be accepted as the "new IT cost baseline" by the business. Next year, you can bet that budget negotiations will start at a lower level.

In the current economic environment it's still far better to commit to reducing spending, but at the same time provide a plan that shows how a proportion of the savings could be re-invested in IT capabilities to drive the business forward. The trick is that in order to do make a convincing fist of this, you have to be able to clearly articulate the ways in which IT, effectively applied, can add value to your business in the context of its strategies and goals. In other words: the closer you can get to your business leader peers, and the more you can speak their language, the better the position you'll be in.

Be part of the Debate

This article draws in part on the first of a series of monthly CIO UK polls carried out in conjunction with UK-based analyst firm MWD.

Our next poll is designed to find out what CIOs are doing in the area of collaboration and social software: your input is highly valuable. We'd very much appreciate your thoughts -- just go to http://cio.mwdadvisors.com/polls/. The results of the poll will inform our second article, which will appear in early January 2009.

If you would like to contribute your thoughts to the above discussion and you are a CIO in the UK or Europe, please join the CIO.co.uk group on LinkedIn or contact the Editor, Mark Chillingworth via LinkedIn.