Switchfast Blog: The Future of IT
Increase in IT Spending Points to IT Innovation
Monday, July 26, 2010 by Bryan Anderson
While the debate on stimulating economic turnaround continues,
one industry is already returning to form. According to a
report from Forrester, "U.S. IT goods and services spending
will jump 9.9 percent in 2010, compared to 7.8 percent growth
worldwide." Not only is this number encouraging, but it represents
a 1.5 percent increase over Forrester's last estimate in April for
U.S. spending (global growth remained constant).
So what's the story behind these numbers? Forrester suggests
that growth is because "the U.S. is entering an innovation cycle
marked by adoption of new technologies." The article points out
HP's latest contract renewal with General Motors for $2 billion as
a sign of their "large deal appetite."
While insufficient data was available to include
telecommunications services in the report, lead analyst Andrew
Bartel summarizes his opinion based on the findings, noting that
"communications equipment purchases are looking up, especially for
enterprise and small and medium-size business (SMB) buying;
computer equipment and software will be the strongest
categories."
In an article from ZDNet.com, Joe McKendrick
believes the numbers show the "pent-up demand from purchases being
held off the last couple of years," when either budgets or profits
had limited wiggle room. He also points out initiatives like
analytics and data management that may affect the 'innovation
cycle.'
With more companies willing to invest in IT, the landscape will
experience a period of technical innovation. An article from Computerworld.com outlines a few
elements for providing an environment that sustains innovation:
- Employees need the right to fail-it's hard to innovate when
there is fear of being wrong
- From top to bottom, anyone (and everyone) within the
organization should take responsibility for innovation
- Establish partnerships with other departments to communicate
and articulate benefits of technology-driven innovations
- Create an area or environment for innovative ideas and
experiments, one where people can test and hear various ideas
- Carving out processes and declaring ownership-promising ideas
and experimental tests need facilitating roles
Remember to take a step back and observe whether your company
can do something more efficiently. Getting caught up in the usual
routine can stymie workplace innovation.
Until next time -
Matthew Hymel
Switchfast Technologies
Chicago IT Support &
Consulting
Rochester
IT Support & Consulting
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