Executive Summary (This is a document excerpt)

The signs all point to an economic recession having started in 2008 and continuing into 2009, although there is no useful consensus on how long or how deep this recession will be. CEOs, CFOs, and CIOs struggle to make plans in this uncertain environment, with significant business risks if too much emphasis is put on cost-cutting with a loss of competitive positioning or too little with a larger-than-expected slowdown causing financial losses. The middle way is the prudent course: cutting costs where they have less impact on business capability, adjusting the investment portfolio, managing your skills pool, adjusting the structure of IT, and using the common challenge to deepen relationships with business execs.