This is not a crisis of the IT industry …

At SAP we have agreed not to use the term “crisis” too much anymore, but rather talk about the “new reality”. A good attitude I think, … since it seems that when people talk too much about the crisis that in the end everybody seems to accept the crisis and does not fight it anymore.

At SAP we believe there are good reasons and ways to address the challenges of the new reality, rather than accepting the crisis. Especially in the IT industry. In contradiction to 2001 (dotcom), IT did not cause the downturn. It is rather the other way around: IT (Software and more in particular Enterprise Business Solutions) can play a fundamental role to address the “new reality”.

In these times lots of companies are looking for cost savings, cutting down on expenses and investments. The predictability of the economic evolution is limited (even in the short term), so companies tend to look for short term and easy(?) cost saving measures rather than investing in ways to overcome some of the challenges. Cash shortage, working capital, in-efficenties in business processes, … or things like a poor sourcing strategy are not addressed by “saving costs”. Smart investments and short term projects that tackle the real pain points have higher changes to be successful and to help companies survive. SAP has made a short document on this. I would like to advise everyone (our customers and partners) to read it, find some inspiration and address the challenges beyond the regular cost savings.

The SAP colleagues are ready to discuss with you.

http://www.sap.com/about/vision/pdf/SAP_Executive_Perspective_v3_FINAL.pdf