Riding the Wall Street boom-bust cycle

Not too long ago, people generally were upbeat about IT spending in the financial services industry. Gartner was predicting the industry would boost spending by about 7 percent, which was better than most industries. But the world has changed drastically in the last few months. You can bet Bear Stearns will not be hiking its IT budget. Cost reduction across the board has emerged as a big theme, notes Advanced Trading. Many banks are taking a strong look at where and how they can cut. Vendor consolidation is all but certain. Accenture says top banks are looking to squeeze $1-2 billion out of IT expenses. So the days of launching a new system every time a new product is offered is over. Executives may be more receptive to cross-market, integrated technology. You have to wonder if even spending on compliance and risk management will moderate.   

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