Tech Execs Plan for Economic Troubles Ahead
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EMERGING GROWTH
Hope -- and success so far -- for many companies is based on smaller economies that are increasingly investing at home.
U.S. companies with wide international exposure like International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N: Quote, Profile, Research)
have benefited from stronger economies and a weak dollar. Big Blue says
that infrastructure projects in the developing world are key.
"If I were in a business model where I needed double-digit growth
out of the G7 to drive my performance, I would be in a cold sweat,"
said IBM Chief Financial Officer Mark Loughridge, referring to the
Group of Seven nations.
But Loughridge said an economic tremor in such big, advanced
economies would not necessarily be felt by emerging ones. "I personally
see less kind of linkage, dependency between the established markets
and the high-growth markets," he argued.
Indeed, telecoms company Telstra Corp Ltd (TLS.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) said the Australian economy was booming. "They can't hire enough people," Chief Executive Sol Trujillo said.
In addition, many technology executives cling firmly to the belief
that their products are must-haves -- whether they are cell phones that
are kept when home phones are canceled, software to make vast computer
"server farms" handle more work with less energy, or services to fend
off vicious new attacks from hackers who are trying to steal money
rather than just make trouble.
"We've seen no slowdown economically in IT (information technology)
spending related to security. It's been a nice opportunity," said Dave
Dewalt, chief executive of McAfee Inc (MFE.N: Quote, Profile, Research). "Am I nervous? Do I read the headlines, too? Yes."
(Additional reporting by Kirby Chien in Tokyo and Tova Cohen and Georgina Prodhan in Paris)
IT Management 
