As Barack Obama spells out, Gartner analysts

As Barack Obama spells out, Gartner analysts stipulate, Global IT majors can still move ahead with sizable takeaways.

Better late than never, IT companies are fast realizing the need to initiate steps to face recession, and survive the recession. This is of due importance for IT companies that adhere to Onsite-Offshore business model, where cost cutting is key to successful business, and pricing is what makes IT companies afloat, and gain breathing space. On Nov.5 Obama announced 12 steps, which is part of the blue print for changes to come in technology sector. If global IT business is part of the larger system called international business, open source software, software licencing, Internet privacy, ERP, Copy Rights and IPR are subsystems that equally matter and draw global attention.

Obama’s 12 point IT agenda initiates the process of great many changes in the way US Businesses are to run and the way governmental agencies are to work, in future. Organizations and firms with large scale software implementation and upgrade experience across US, and globally are to gain. The focus of US administation will be dominantly on automation of not so automated, and gaint leaps for ERP into small and big businesses let alone governmetal agencies. “Real-time” is to be a strong parameter to decide on the relevance of a project and its funding by the administration.

The root of the whole issue, of the importance of IT is to be addressed with focus on enhancing technology literacy. Transparency to be enforced as never before, with access to data provided to stake holders in a big way. This means streamling of Enterprise operations and dynamism with providing of feedback in real-time situation. This is a challenge and equally an opportunity, with onsite professionals’ readiness in expecting what changes are to come in US market, for their prosperous existence. If thesis is the present crisis, antithesis is the reply to how to tackle the crisis; way things need to be ordered till situation is set right. We have to wait for the synthesis to happen, which will be an expression of how well the global IT industry will survive the present “slow-down” and emerge to announce a prosperous Quarter.

The gone week’s Gartner Conference in Cannes (Gartner Symposium Itxpo 2008, Nov 3-7) appears to have given a firm background to what Barack Obama announced on Nov.5. Gartner, the global market analyst firm has driven the point home, straight and clear.

1. 80 percent of IT expenditure of firms going to system maintenance; by adoption of new application software, and by dumping legacy businesses could save a lot, to spend additional savings on business development.

2. Choice of an application, to take on not will have to be enforced more stringently, with dire necessity becoming the touchstone for choosing the application or upgrade.

3. What is easier, quicker, and safer will have to be focused. Now Enterprise solutions providers need to be smart sellers and no more brand-based promoters. Logic is in understanding the customer’s pulse, not as earlier trying to influence through case-display approach.

4. For sure US politics has taught IT a lesson, creation of greater web interface to all software applications. True, what Obama’s success unravelled, found emphasis at Gartner 2008. In crisis, the relevance of social networking has taken the cockpit. Innovation catalyses businesses any time; sure to bring innovation will be adoption in total of multi-core processors, virtualization and cloud computing. Cut costs by half, seems to be maxim of businesses globally. Social networking is sure to attract and retain customers say Gartner’s analysts.

5. Gartner listed out at Cannes Meet a list of chop-chops which industry needs to adhere in short and long-run. Greater scrutiny of spending on implementations and upgrades is sure to identify many needles expenditures and liabilities which no longer serve business interests. These have to be done away with, outright. Typically, Gartner evolves a new way of working patterns, so far known by the catchy phrase “work-from-home” more adopted to freelance workers, to be inculcated as routine practice by on-roll IT professionals. What sizable saving can this mean for major software/project implementation companies. A little and basic fact of “work-from-home” means saving of million dollar worth of energy, lease/rent, floor space and hardware. Too difficult to implement, it might be, but some hardcore measures need to be adopted if sustaining markets and ensuring margins is the matter of priority.

6. Gartner’s long term strategy to business to keep their noses above water, till the crisis waters recede to the point of normalcy, comes as pooling joint efforts of rival enterprise solution providers, and developing enerprise systems architecture which decouples input and output process, and thereby achieves a business process that runs distinct of actual implementation already taking place, affecting either. Gain from the strength of “togetherness” Tie-ups now are not just for mutual benefit, but for acting in areas of individual strengths, and gain accordingly.

The global major HP (Hewlett Packard) is on its way to create the needful momentum with calculated measures that will cut its IT budgets by half, with no compromise either in quality of work output or compromise on its project handling capabilities. The deep cuts it will bring in continuing projects worldwide from 1200 to 500 and massive chops in extending support to software applications from 5000 to 1500 is to be considered as a smart real-time decision to replace irrational business conduct by rational business matrix.

Source: Verbatim reproduction of Sanjay Nannaparaju's article in MSN India.