Enterprise Software Sales Dried Up In September

CurtMonash writes "As I predicted a week ago, it looks as if the third quarter was ugly for software vendors, due to the economic crisis. SAP said 'The market developments of the past several weeks have been dramatic and worrying to many businesses. These concerns triggered a very sudden and unexpected drop in business activity at the end of the quarter.' My old acquaintance John Treadway, who used to work in Sybase's financial services vertical unit, reports that things are even worse than that in the financial services industry, Wall Street and retail banks alike. So now what? Well, IT is a huge part of capital spending, and at enterprises that have to cut back capital spending, IT is going to get hurt. On the other hand, high-growth companies — Web businesses, analytic services providers, etc. — may try to power through the downturn. And the more directly an IT project affects near-term profits, the more likely it is to survive."

Comments

Would this mean ...

[slashdotlurker]

... an upswing in the use of in-house customized solutions based on FOSS for new ventures that want to cut costs ?

Re:How much were you making in 2003?

[oldhack]

I think this bust is much, much worse than the dot bomb. Dot bomb, despite all its excess, produced wide-spread internet coverage, computer as utility/appliance, web tech/commerce, and much improved communication infrastructure. This bubble was a sheer paper and real estate speculation - the only thing left are vandalized McMansions in locations unsuitable both ecologically as well as economically. All with borrowed foreign capital that will surely change the dollar's place as the undisputed foreign reserve currency.