I’ve been through a few economic downturns in my career. In most of them, any futuristic IT project funding was “temporarily pulled,” meaning all work to date was a waste of time and money since it ended up in the scrap pile.
I admired companies that took a longer view on the use of technology to drive their businesses and saw the value of making digital enablement a priority, despite stock downturns and lagging sales. With a few exceptions, today those companies are household names that provide better customer experiences, products, and services. Their apps are on your phone right now.
Equinix just released a survey of 2,900 IT executives worldwide that found that 72% intend to push ahead with their digital enablement projects even if the market and economy take a dive. Indicators showed no slack in plans for major investments in digital technologies to support the next generation of the business. This, despite concerns that we could be headed into an economic downturn while we continue to deal with a global technology skills shortage and systemic supply chain issues that can’t seem to be fixed.