There’s no way to sugar coat it: the economy is heading into turbulent waters.

As is often the case during a downturn, the impact on businesses will be profound, with tighter budgets, tougher-to-justify business cases, and a general desire to slow down and hold on tight.

Information technology isn’t immune, and conventional wisdom might suggest tech leaders should also be battening down the hatches. But we humbly suggest conventional wisdom needs a dose of modernization; now is the time for IT to hit the gas on investing. 

In the early days of computing, the Information Technology (IT) Manager held a unique position.  They controlled a sometimes mysterious department managing the operation and use of main frame computers of which seemingly only a technically minded person could ever understand. The IT strategy typically included expensive purchases or long-term leases of equipment and software that kept the company's data organized and available.  Over the years technology has evolved, becoming common in just about every business. IT structure today may range from a point of sale register to a large datacenter accessed world-wide.  Whichever the case these systems are dedicated to providing services from tracking orders and inventory to running production.