Credit crunch provides opportunity for cost cutting technologies

The credit crunch is proving to be a benefit to those that are pushing services and products that might face a tougher sales pitch if buyers were sticking with the status quo.

Anecdotal evidence from players in the software and security market has revealed that in the cases of  hosted services and Linux the current focus on costs could have beneficial consequences.

Dan Smith, partner programme manager at Nasstar, which specialises in desktop hosting said that when cash was tightly controlled and refreshes were not just undertaken automatically it presented the opportunity for a SaaS model to be considered.

“Cash is king and people don’t want to spend their cash and a per-user-per-month charge system is easy to adopt,” he said.

In another example Adam Jollans, a worldwide Linux and Open source executive at IBM, said that companies were considering their purchases and Linux had a chance to shift incumbent technology.

“if you look back to an earlier wave of Linux it happened when people asked how they could save money on hardware through the adoption of open sources. We are now getting another wave as people are again asking how they can reduce the cost of what they are doing,” he said.

Other sectors of the industry have reported on the need customers are expressing to do more with less as well as pointing to the requirement for strong ROI.

In an email to MicroScope, Dave Ellis, director of e-security, professional services, and training, at Computerlinks, said that there were positives among the doom and gloom of the credit crunch.

“The current economic climate is actually driving new business towards providers of security products and services rather than making it harder to find. As a clearly-defined and fully implemented IT security strategy is no longer merely an option for business today, its a must-have if not a legal requirement, specialist IT security is in heavy demand and resellers are ideally placed to respond,” he said.

“Companies are not only investing in the technology, but are increasing their spending on professional services and training to ensure they get the best possible return on their investment. So, security resellers can afford to be far more bullish, raise their heads above the parapets and make the most of the opportunity while they can,” he added.