CIOs haven't been socked with budget cuts yet, but many are preparing to tighten their belts in the softening economy. Last year, the bubble burst for many dot-coms when they learned that profits really do matter after all. Now, weak spots are showing up in a much broader swath of the U.S. economy, and IT executives are coming under increased pressure to cut costs and speed up the delivery of revenue-enhancing technologies. Although it isn't clear whether the U.S. is heading for a recession, many IT executives say they're always under pressure to cut costs. The executive committee focuses on projects.
Nobody really understands that side except the IT group.
He says server consolidations are likely to save money. I've seen staff waste hours trying to figure out an executive's PDA problem, and you may have five executives all with different models. Some savings will come from replacing expensive U.S. consultants with IT workers at Prudential's new development center in Ireland. For its part, Panasonic Management Information Technology Services used to nab consultants and temporary employees from about 30 sources, according to President Bob Schwartz. Christopher Horrocks, a vice president and CIO at Selecterra, says one way to cut costs is to get them into somebody else's budget.