I wish you a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Whilst today is my first official day in the office, I’ve actually been drifting back into work during the days between Christmas and the New Year – you just can’t get away from email when it is attached to your belt and following you around these days . During this period, the number one question remained “Did you have a good Christmas and New Year?” and I have no doubt that these nine little words will continue to be repeated hundreds of thousands times during the course of today as people return to their offices.

However, I’m noticing a different undertone in the question this year, giving the question more of a subtext along the lines of “Did the break give you time away from thoughts of the difficult year ahead?”. It seems that this is the real meaning of the question when exchanged between managers and business leaders, especially as they face the difficult task of reducing costs to meet tighter and tighter budgets.

As industry continues to slow, many of the people that I spoke with over the holiday period are expecting to go back to work on reduced hours and irregular shift patterns. Sales staff are expecting to be faced with harder than normal targets to hit and everyone with questions about how their management will steer them through the interesting times ahead. With the Christmas boost now firmly packed away with last year, event the high street is set for a slower than normal period as shoppers receive credit card statements that will inevitably bring home the full cost of the ‘seasonal feel-good break’.

So with slowing industry, motoring giants seeking emergency funding, a banking sector that continues to reel from self generated problems, quieter than normal building sites and an empty high street, management teams all of the world will be sitting down to look at where budgets can be cut. In anticipation, I’ve also heard whispers that people are now waiting for news to begin leaking out from the IT sector with regards to profit warnings as projects are cut back, suspended and even cancelled. Much of this speculation being driven by the expected meetings this week during which cost cutting will be high on agendas and especially where savings can be made within IT departments. At the same time, business leaders will still want to have their IT solutions drive growth, provide more automation and support the business better than last year.

This all seems rather gloomy coming from someone working in the IT industry, but given the nature of the MultiValue tools that I’m involved with, I am optimistic for 2009. Those of us in the MultiValue world know that our solutions are some of the best at supporting businesses during times of change and that they enable us to provide our clients with highly flexible business solutions that help business to reduce costs from enhanced functionality enabling more automation, lower administration costs and minimal (if any) down time. Furthermore, the tools that we use, enable us to create business solutions extremely quickly and enable us to deliver and maintain these systems within the reduced 2009 budgets.

So my advice for 2009:

• To those of you using MultiValue tools like OpenInsight – take a wider look at the use of IT within your existing clients business and help them to achieve their 2009/10 cost reductions by building MultiValue solutions to meet those business needs.
  
• To those of you who are not yet using a MultiValue toolset like OpenInsight – why not broaden your technology base by including a technology that will enable you to accept those smaller (and sometimes more profitable) projects. You will not only help maintain a healthy balance sheet, but you might even put a smile on the face of your sales team and help build some confidence for 2009.

Whatever route you take, I wish you a prosperous and trouble free 2009.

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Three white papers that might you might find useful whilst talking to people about MultiValue technologies:

• Achieving More Business Benefits Through MultiValue Technologies and Revelation's Openinsight.
  
• The Benefits of a MultiValue Database Management System.
  
• Why should I opt for a Revelation based application.