Corporations have absolutely NO reason to buy anything new. There has been no new applications for some time now, and most are starting to recognize that when one factors in training costs and maintenance, computers are no big deal anymore as far as productivity is concerned. Most of the big productivity gains occurred early in the game.
You're thinking of the desktop. I'm thinking about the enterprise IT architecture. When your business model is changing rapidly, (e.g. if you are a bank that is buying an insurer, now that Glass-Steagall has been repealed), and your competitive environment is changing too (your competitors offer on-line home banking and your customers expect it too), you ARE in the market for new software.
Software that can offer consistent data and performance across the enterprise (your current systems are departmental), and lets you show account data securely across the web. Software that will let you recoup at least some of its costs by being more automated, easier to maintain, and offering higher functionality (intra-departmental cross-selling, for example).
The database/middleware/consulting boom really exists IMO, and I think it will pick up again after the Y2K hiatus. |
