The “economic tsunami” – or the “perfect storm”, as it has been called, is far from breaking news today. The news of massive layoffs, bailouts, stimulus spending, deficits, cuts, etc., dominate the top 10 news items every day. Americans are most definitely not alone in these tumultuous times. The economic downturn has impacted even the furthest corners of the globe (www.businessday.co.za). What makes this economic recession unique over previous recessions is the global reach and severity. Truly, we have entered waters where there are no charts, maps, or GPS.
But even as these tough economic times are upon us, nimble and entrepreneurial companies are investing in their Web strategies and online marketing at an ever-increasing rate. We developed a tagline a couple of years ago that rings more true today than ever before – “Markets are Competitive, Elevate your Web Site.” Markets ARE more competitive than years past. Spending is down across the board – nobody is excluded. Competing for electronic turf via SEO and paid search continues to be a lucrative way for companies to drive leads. We continue to see increasing demand for these services at BitWise.
On the flip side, automating business processes and reducing “touches” of business transactions by staff are increasingly common conversations we have with our clients. In mid-March, I traveled to Long Island, NY to meet with a client who wants to automate a significant business process – one which takes them immeasurable hours every month to implement. The return on investment to this client once this solution is deployed is significant and the horizon short.
Both sides of the business process – from new customer acquisition to back-office automation, smart companies are finding that NOW is the time to invest. The economy will rebound and those companies who used these challenging times to become more competitive will be better poised to absorb the growth related to the economic rebound. Management should be asking themselves, “…have we wrung out every opportunity imaginable from our business processes using technology…”:
http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Business_Technology/BT_Strategy/Managing_IT_in_a_downturn_Beyond_cost_cutting_2196
These are concerning times, to be certain, but such can be viewed as a catalyst to invest in your business and be a smarter, more efficient company.