Nevertheless, just as the government thinks some banks are too big to allow to fail, and it lends them money to prop them up, most IT industry insiders say IT budgets are too strategic for companies to let them drop too drastically.
"The economic conditions are there, but we do think we have a unique value proposition and we think we can help companies, especially small and medium-size companies, solve their IT problems," said Tom Tobul, executive director for marketing of emerging products at Lenovo. Lenovo this week was showing off its new Clickserver line of server towers and racks at Interop in New York.
"You look at this show we're at and there are a tremendous number of companies out here looking for solutions to their pain points," Tobul said.
Ultimately, while tech products like servers and PCs may be the first to be cut from IT budgets, Forrester's Bartels said, "You can't put off purchasing decisions for too long." This is why IT sales should bounce back after two or three quarters of downward pressure, Bartels said.
Though Citigroup lowered its share target price on Dell from $28 to $26, it remained fairly upbeat. In a research report, Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner said, "Still, our estimates suggest a very favorable risk/reward. ... Management has characterized U.S. large accounts and U.S. federal government -- several of the company's most profitable segments -- as stable or 'pretty good,'" Gardner said.
Meanwhile Oracle's earnings report, issued after the market closed Thursday, will help buoy software investor confidence. Oracle's quarterly profit jumped 28 percent to $1.08 billion, despite the U.S. economic turmoil. One of the company's most critical indicators of health, new software license revenue, increased 14 percent. Oracle shares gained $0.65 to $18.75 during after-market trading right after the release of the report.
