Many companies today are taking an aggressive approach to improving efficiency; especially when it can lead to significant cost reductions. If you’re one of these companies, and are looking to improve your business process efficiency, then you should still be investing in IT. Many companies are braving the storm and plan on spending their hard-earned dollars in 2009. Check out what Information Week’s recent post has to say about IT spending in 2009. Strategic use of technology can give a company strategic advantage in troubled times. But you have to do it more intelligently than ever before.

• Buy the right technology for the job
• Be smart about how you deploy it
• Spend the time up front to understand the business requirements
• Don’t forget to involve the actual end users
• Consult with peers and experts (you don’t know what you don’t know)
• Don’t force users to learn new processes or tools – it will kill your adoption rates and ROI

There is no doubt there has been a shift in thinking – big projects are being reduced or delayed, all spending is being scrutinized, ROI periods are shorter – but there are still plenty of opportunities. (See what CMS Watch thinks will be hot in 2009).

There are tools that truly reduce costs, automate and streamline existing processes and ultimately give knowledge workers the functionality they need to do their jobs better – all of which can have demonstrable effect on the bottom line.

Check out the article “Turning Patents into Profits” that details how Life Sciences organizations are automating their mission critical document processes and reaping the efficiency and financial rewards

Is it all wine and roses? Of course not. Companies are struggling and people are losing their jobs. But using technology strategically can help an organization weather, or even thrive in troubled times and it sets them up for great things when the economy recovers.