Mary Jander of Internet Evolution takes a hard look at at what IT must do to survive the next few years of economic woes. She has some sobering things to say, and while we might not like it, she is probably right. For example, in her first step to IT surviving she says:
Staff levels must go down. Job cuts are now a fact of IT life. Recent announcements portend 5,000 layoffs at Microsoft; a projected 6,000 at Intel; up to 10,000 at IBM. Cuts like these could decimate an already-pressed IT staff, unless measures are taken to automate and virtualize more functions.
The idea of reducing costs in hardware and human resources through virtualization has been suggested before (many times). Now is the time to finally give it a try.
She also takes a look at at telecommuting, going green, Web 2.0, data management, and more. Be sure to read her post.