"All of this may add up to radical changes in buying
patterns over the long term. With dollars for outright purchasing
growing tighter, leasing may make a comeback.
""I'm seeing and hearing a pickup in leasing activity, which has
been rather light to non-existent for the past several years, as a
means of stretching dollars and cash flow," said Nickolett.
"Other possible shifts in the market might appear in the areas
of open source software and Software as a Service (SaaS).
""SaaS and open source have become vehicles for newer vendors to
provide a credible threat," said Nickolett.
"He suggests a complete proof of concept effort to demonstrate
the technical capabilities of such alternatives -- then create a
plan to migrate 10 percent to 15 percent of your IT footprint to
that platform as part of a strategic cost reduction effort."
