What's your take on the economy?

Hard times. Nervous times. Companies losing confidence & the economy in turmoil. What to do?

There's a very strong argument that says organisations should pull back, consolidate, stop spending and just ride out the storm. And that absolutely makes sense in many situations.

But not all of them.

Although we also need to think carefully about how we continue to grow the business, I'm very happy to say that Microsoft Australia is taking positive steps to help customers not only survive this storm, but come out even stronger on the other side.

Starting today, we're rolling out a full-page, month long ad campaign in The Australian talking directly to customers, asking them if they're really making the most of their IT infrastructure.

The call to action is to talk to their partner or visit our site & so hopefully this high-profile advertising will provide some support for you to have upgrade conversation with your customers & prospects.

They may need to pay a little bit to upgrade from their current infrastructure, but the benefits of the remote web workplace, mobility via Windows Mobile, agility from virtualisation & the increased productivity of Sharepoint could really help them save money & be more effective.

As one of my most admired SMB consultants, Karl Palachuk says, "you can choose to reject the recession".

Cheers & lemme know your thoughts,

Robbie

PS - There's another good read on this same topic over on our SBSC blog .

Click here to download a copy of the ad. Full text is as follows:

We know it's hard to see the bright side of uncertain times, with the stock market in turmoil and softening consumer confidence. That's why many Australian businesses are looking for ways to reduce costs and brace themselves for whatever may come.

But before you go to extremes or do nothing at all - take a look at the proactive steps you can take to leverage your existing business investments and enable your people to work smarter. It might not solve all your worries, but it may get you on a better path.

Fact is, it doesn't always require major investments or sacrifices on your part to improve your IT infrastructure and efficiency. At Microsoft we're committed to helping our customers make the most of what they've got.

We don't want to get technical here, but we can show you a better way to utilise what you have - from the server room to your workstations. A good first step is to call your nearest Microsoft Partner or visit our website.

Contact your Microsoft Partner today or visit microsoft.com.au/economy