“Singapore’s central bank has warned of sluggish growth again next year even as the country grapples with elevated inflation.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said on Tuesday that the economy here could grow below its potential rate – defined as between 3 per cent and 5 per cent – next year, as the outlook for the global economy remains murky…”

This was the front page news in Singapore’s main news paper today.

How does this impact CIOs and IT budgets?

The past experience of downturn in the economic environment has shown that IT budgets take immediate hits, most projects are kept on hold or put in abeyance. CIOs have to juggle with the difficult task of managing lowered budgets and the expectation of the businesses

At the same time, IT has become integral part of business strategy, irrespective of economic environment. When the business demands growth, IT has to deliver scalable solution, when the business wants shift in tactics or downsizing, IT has to address the needs. But with the traditional IT spend model it is not possible to keep pace with the velocity of changing business needs.

How do open source and cloud computing help you in these uncertain times?

With open source you can do more with less. You can bring down the cost of licenses and  actually do the new applications in the given budgets. Traditionally the database license cost takes upto 35% of your infrastructure budgets. If you can save this component substantially, it would help you not just manage within the budgets but also deliver new projects.

By embracing cloud computing you can help your business achieve agility they are looking for. Uncertain times require business to have option of trying few strategies. They look at IT to support their execution. By leveraging cloud based infrastructure or application you can help them be nimble and agile without blowing off your IT budget.