"Because formal IT was given project requests and wasn't getting them done due to budget constraints, business lines got more savvy about wrapping IT projects into their own business projects," Kelly says. Such "shadow projects" used to account for about 5 percent of all IT expenses; now they account for more than 10 percent, he says. One financial services company he studied recently was spending about twice as much on IT than the formal IT budget suggested.
Lessons Learned
IT executives will no doubt carry into the upturn the lessons they learned in the downturn. Patel, the CIO of GMAC Commercial Holding, says there are things you can do to save money under any economic circumstances. For example, he usually buys equipment and software near the end of the quarter, when salespeople are under pressure to meet their forecasts. This puts him in a better bargaining position.
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