Insight into Info Tech Market Performance

Unit volume improvements provide a glimmer of positive improvement for the information technology market moving forward. Global PC shipments are up 2.3% year over year for the 3rd quarter of 2009. ...

... "Global shipments totaled 78.1 million units in the July-September period, IDC said, with all regions except Japan either meeting or surpassing expectations. " ...

Via Reuters: Global PC shipments

Green Shoots from IT Projects

What will drive the recovery? Will the technology industry have a role as a leader or a lagger? Let's get cracking on those IT project proposals. ...

... "If there's good news from the Gartner study, it's that CIOs aren't canceling projects outright. CIOs report shifting more work to in-house resources and delaying capital expenditures more than reducing IT project investments ... " ...

Via Motley Fools: Technology Industry Perspectives

Innovation Projects

While we are confronting the strongest headwinds since the Great Depression, leave room in your shrinking project portfolio for innovation and growth investments. It is understandable that operational efficiency and financial stability will move to the forefront and the portfolio balance will shift. There are innovation and project investment lessons to be learned from similar times. ...

... "Neoprene, which DuPont publicly announced in November 1931 and introduced commercially in 1937, became one of the 20th century’s major innovations. By 1939, every automobile and airplane manufactured in the United States had neoprene components. " ...

Via McKinsey Quarterly: Innovating during the Great Depression

Manage Project Portfolio During Recession Environment

This recession could cause your enterprise to scale back its investment commitment for projects. Now is a good time to refine your project ranking and scan the pipeline for high-value ungoverned project proposals. Investment scenarios can be helpful to facilitate a portfolio review with your governance team. Consider preparing them in advance. Also, remember that economic downturns can also be a time for considering strategic investments that can change the company's competitive position as the storm blows over. ...

... "More typically, failure lives in shades of gray, and choosing the worst projects among a mediocre group can be tough. " ...

Via ZDNet: Managing Projects during recession

Project Investments During Economic Uncertainty or Contraction

Here's some tips regarding investments during uncertain economic times. This quote makes sense in that ... there's quite a bit of effort necessary to adopt and sustain a new performance level after an IT project go-live. This period of stabilization, adoptions, and maturity is a worthwhile investment after the initial capital investment is made. ...

... "Real, long-term value comes from recognizing at the outset that growth, evolution and value-generation require sustained sponsorship, attention, maintenance and marketing. " ...

Via B-Eye: Smart Investment

IT Projects - An Economic Bellweather

Is this a weak signal of a spreading economic slowdown or bellweather for the US economy? ... ;-) ...

... "IT companies, including Cisco, could be vulnerable if subprime losses force them to cut spending on IT projects. " ...

Via MSNBC: Cisco