The IT sector still has some work to do in convincing its corporate customers that during the next upturn customers will not be plagued by over-exuberant claims.
So writes Datatec chairman Leslie Boyd in the group`s latest annual report, covering Datatec`s 2003/04 financial year.
"The year under review saw the gradual emergence of the major markets in which we operated from an extended period of contraction and downturn," he says. "There were tentative signs of improvement in the global economy in terms of sentiment and growth."
He says the effect of the changes on the IT sector has so far been mixed. A few quarters of improvement in performance indicators are needed to determine whether the industry as a whole has turned decisively.
"It is clear, however, that the low interest rate environment, particularly in the US, has fuelled consumer demand that has remained at extraordinary levels.
"The supply side, though, has yet to benefit. We would anticipate that at some point declining inventory levels and ageing technology infrastructure would prompt the start of a new period of corporate investment in capacity building.
"Even then, the IT sector still has some work to do in convincing its corporate customers that during the next upturn they will not be overwhelmed by over-exuberant claims about the technology they need and its capabilities.
"We need to be aware that the frontier culture of an earlier era has been replaced by more modest expectations and longer investment horizons."
The next upturn, Boyd says, will be characterised by more traditional demand and supply dynamics and circumspection in decisions on technology investments.
Share