The IT dinner seminar was super. It was attended by a great crowd of people, many of whom were engrossed in conversations about the market. One out-of-work chap said he watched the depressing news, called his broker, who was no where to be found, and decided that it would be a good idea to arrive early for the open bar. Made perfect sense.
We had a fantastic view from on top the Roc, delicious finger food, and a very friendly wait staff. And, that was before dinner.
As I stood by the window enjoying the view and the warm afternoon sun, I noticed a smiling face that was headed in my direction. He looked familiar, and then it struck me that this was the man that I shared a face-to-face seat with on the commuter train into New York. His response was, "Hi again, and how are your knees? At least we have room to move here."
I wonder what the odds are for this meeting? It was almost as much fun as my red sneakers train experience, but I'll save that for another day. In fact, come to think of it, there have been many interesting commuter train experiences including meeting and signing three new clients. There may be a message here.
Our host kept the bar open much longer than expected, but there weren't enough drinks to change the outcome of the projected decline in 2009 Global IT Budgets. In addition to a crisis in confidence caused by a spate of write-downs and concerns over liquidity in the financial services market, for the past couple of years many enterprises have been cutting back IT budget increases as they adopt a more cautious viewpoint of the global economy.
The exception to all of this less than positive news is the healthcare sector which contrary to other verticals, is planning a significant number of increases in IT spend in 2009. So, as far as IT, healthcare is healthy.
In spite of all of the bad news, there are still enterprises that plan to significantly increase their IT expenditure in 2009. Government Information Technology (IT) spending for state and local health care will rise from roughly $6 billion in FY2005 to over $9 billion in FY2009, a 50 percent growth rate over five years, according to a report released today by INPUT, the quantifiable leader in government market intelligence. The projected increase is driven by requirements for greater health care system and administrative efficiencies, as well as continued investments in Medicaid Management Information Systems (MMIS). In addition, the advancement of electronic records management is serving as a catalyst for increased IT expenditures.
Also driving the increase in health care IT spending is the movement towards electronic records. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced a new program to research costs and resources associated with transforming paper-based medical records to digital computer-based records. The 10-year plan is intended to promote the adoption of electronic recording systems by doctors, hospitals, and clinics - it is estimated that less than 15 percent of hospitals and between 10 and 30 percent of physician practices currently have electronic health systems implemented. As the HHS program reaches maturity, the initiative will contribute significantly to the growth in the health care arena, with initial efforts likely seen as early 2009
The bright spot is that it 's still possible to uncover potential growth markets, but it's a matter of research and targeting the right vertical markets with the correct market strategy.
