The IT industry is beginning to see the impact of the
credit crunch.
SAP, has already lowered its third quarter 2008 forecasts in
response to falling sales, now analyst house Forrester Research has
found that IT directors are looking to reduce costs, putting
further pressure on the IT industry.
Forrester analyst Pascal Matzke, said, "Clients are deferring
project decisions, consolidating their supplier relationships, and
starting to renegotiate prices with their existing providers."
The downturn is hitting IT suppliers hard, said Forrester. The
analyst firm found that deals were getting cancelled as some
businesses ceased to exist. One IT firm told Forrester, "It is
pretty hard to manage a sales pipeline if some of your key
prospects or customers simply disappear overnight."
In another case highlighted by Forrester, CIOs were also
deferring buying decisions. "We have not had any major
cancellations yet. But clients are telling us that they need more
time to understand the new situation. As a result, we are seeing
many decisions getting deferred by about three to six months," one
IT supplier told Forrester Research.