Ways out of the crisis (2): A voice from the economy

Robert Helgerth, Senior Director Mittelstand & Partner as well as Member of the Management Board of Microsoft Germany

Support for small and medium-sized enterprises: How Information Technology can serve as an anchor

Information Technology and its contribution for overcoming the economic crisis

The current economic situation in Germany represents a major challenge for all companies, regardless of their form, size and branch. Optimism is appropriate though since the long-term economic perspectives certainly do show signs of hope - simply because of the fact that many of those aspects, which have been responsible for other economic booms, will endure throughout the recession. Among these factors are the extraordinary ability of the German economy to participate in competition, as well as the leading role of German companies in the fields of future and green technologies. Information technology plays a central role in this context because of the fact that – contrary to the crisis of 2001 – it did not cause the recession, but it is merely part of the solution of how to overcome it.

Many of the current 2.5 million small and medium sized-enterprises in Germany face a target conflict: Against the background of the current crisis, they seek for possibilities in order to reduce costs on the one hand, and increase their productivity on the other. It requires a unified strategy by the state and finance branch, but also by the small businesses themselves in order to find a solution.
The math on this is simple – state players are not able to replace free entrepreneurs. Consequently, companies cannot wait for politics to act but they must declare future-orientated investments as the “core of their entrepreneur-strategy”. History teaches that those, who invested wisely in times of crisis, are the ones capable of dealing best with the consequences of recession. At this point, the IT-sector could contribute tremendously in order to overcome the current crisis: it represents the key to new, innovative solutions und business models, as well as to reducing costs and increasing productivity. IT generates sustainable growth and therefore new, competitive employment potentials. In order to support these advantages, it is necessary to re-calibrate state funding, rating and credit approval processes.

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