There’s nothing new under the Sun. Just when we were all starting to wonder what IT Buyers in the USA did between 9 to 5, Gartner has used it’s time wisely and taken the time to find out. 

IT buyers in the USA have a high focus on IT costs, according to Gartner. It would appear that IT buyers in the US pay less attention to business innovation in IT as a driver for using IT services. The survey revealed companies belonging to all sizes, showed a movement away from aggressive adoption, and indicated their top driver is to reduce the operating costs of IT and to ensure IT availability. In addition, 60% of US buyers had renegotiated service contracts in the past two years, while 47% said they had found cost savings by using offshore services delivery, and 40% indicated the use of technology as a service as an IT cost reduction driver.

So now you know; or maybe you knew anyway.

In recent weeks we’ve been asking our clients about how the recession has impacted their IT spending. Not surprisingly, the majority noted that they are enduring a reduction in their IT budget. Interestingly, other comments included a noticeable slow down in the decision-making process as management reviewed every spend request in more detail than ever before. And total cost of ownership is now analysed in more depth too as recent history has shown that TCO often ends up higher than expected. Reducing IT costs through virtualisation, supplier rationalisation and canny contract negotiation are still being pursued as savings vehicles. And Silver Bullet Associates is happy to report that our contract negotiation advice  continues to help businesses obtain lower prices and better contracts.