Beyond the downturn?

There is much talk about how IT functions are going to change once the downturn has run its course. There is a presumption here that:

• The downturn will end (though history tells us they generally do)
• The financial beating taken by the IT function will be reversed once the organization is back on an even keel.

At this present time I am doubtful about both. And so CIOs are encouraged to think about how they change the IT function under what might be called ‘new normal’ conditions.