(By Info-Tech Analyst Rafael Keren - Printed with permission from Processor magazine www.processor.com).

While economic woes continue to plague businesses, IT remains relatively unscathed. Although there is bound to be a handful of IT professionals in the proverbial unemployment line, IT staff have not been as negatively affected as those closer to the shop floor. That said, IT shops are not immune to the economic downturn, and nowhere is that more noticeable than in frozen capital expenditures and reassessments of IT project portfolios.

Having recently completed interviews and surveys of IT professionals regarding current economic conditions, I was surprised that some of the projects frozen as a result of cost reduction efforts were actually efforts that would have resulted in significant long-term expense reduction payback. Long-term, process-driven projects can be a hard sell, but if you can demonstrate the return on long-term expense management, your project will quickly win over budget-conscious converts.