So the prophecy fulfilled itself. Last year the chatter was about impending recession, as the financial crisis in the US spilled over into Europe and the rest of the world. The media talked it up, confidence started to crack and before you know it the UK mortgage marketplace was the big victim - or rather those homebuyers seeking competitive rates were. So where does IT fit in here? At referenSys, we've noticed that the larger companies are addressing the economic downturn by investing in IT to drive efficiency savings, but that IT spending by smaller businesses has fallen sharply. Our message to those SMEs is that failing to invest now will hurt much more later. Playing catch-up is always harder than leading the field...