The economy is showing signs of relative stability. The stock market is no longer going through wild swings. Banks are beginning to lend (at least a little). And the government is no longer talking about economic doomsday scenarios.
While that all sounds good, it doesn’t mean the recession is over. Analysts and economists say true economic recovery will not happen for another year, and even then it will be late 2010 before the average small to midsize business starts to feel the economic turnaround.
In the Channel Insider 2009 Market Pulse Report, solution providers said that their customers were cutting back on IT spending. Many end users were taking longer to act on IT projects or deferring work to avoid payments. Thirty-eight percent of surveyed solution providers said that their customers were demanding lower prices for products and services.
Business-technology consumers remain frugal about their IT investments and demand the best, most aggressive prices. But that doesn’t mean you have to give it to them. Supply-side economics, in which higher demand and lower availability equals higher prices, still applies no matter the economic climate.