The economic downturn has drastically altered the rules of international business. Now that the nature of the problems facing the financial markets has become clear, the domino effect has been unstoppable for the rest of the World. The consequences of this downturn have reached virtually every market, including those of our customers.
The credit crisis started in the financial sector and has had an enormous impact on the property market. In turn, the impact has affected related industries (such as consumer goods manufacturing, retail, home furnishings and construction) that depend on a flourishing property market. As confidence weakened, the ‘infection’ spread to almost every market and business. Initially, it seemed as though consumers would be spared, but because employers have only limited access to cash, it has affected nearly everyone.
The effect has been almost immediate. This in part due to the way many organizations are financially structured: most operations are founded on debt. Cutbacks were imperative, and in many cases were followed by reduction in staff. This ‘work more with less’ approach results in short-term success and is what companies should have been doing all along (work as cost-efficiently as possible). Another restructuring approach was to defer capital investments and get the maximum value from current investments. This short-term focus means they may lose sight of long-term business goals. Companies may ‘forget’ they are giving away their competitive advantage and they will be rapidly surpassed by organizations that remain focused on the future.
An economic recession doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. It’s also the time when new, innovative business opportunities present themselves. Companies that re-examine their organizations and look for ways of minimizing costs without making any concessions to their innovative capacity will be the clear winners. Firms will decide to merge, sell off business units, take over other companies or restructure themselves. Regardless of the choices these firms make, an investment in processes, infrastructure and information technology is inevitable.
Recent economic indicators are pointing towards a recovery but it will be a slow and steady journey. Companies need to establish strategic partnerships to deal with the current constraints but also accelerate to a leadership position when the market fully recuperates. Today, Atos Origin is introducing a new suite of solutions to provide a clear roadmap of how to generate value from your IT situation. Atos Origin is pleased to announce its “Road to Recovery” solutions.
The road map to recovery includes:
1) Shifting cost structure from capital intensive to variable;
2) Focusing on productivity through greater access to and use of information and cost reductions;
3) Contribution to customers through restructuring and acquisition.
Through these solutions, Atos Origin is your IT partner in achieving up to 30% of direct savings, and will follow it up with a long-term strategy to ensure profitability. These solutions demonstrate Atos Origin’s intimate understanding that the structure of IT services has to change in order to deliver real value to businesses and get on the road to recovery.
Who is Ryan?
Ryan is Vice President, for Sales and Marketing, North America, for Atos Origin, a leading IT services company and a global provider of business consulting, systems integration and managed operations. The company’s annual revenues are more than $8.3Billion and it employs 50,000 people in 40 countries.