April 15, 2009

Channel Speak: A Healthy Channel Opportunity

I saw some Forrester research data about the American Recovery and Reinvesting Act of 2009 and its impact on the IT industry.  There is a lot of information available on the Act, and I thought I should spend some time researching opportunities in the legislation so that I could "separate the wheat from the chaff."  The Forrester data showed that the Stimulus Package contains approximately $28-$35 billion for incremental IT spending and almost half of that is committed to Healthcare.  Approximately $15 billion (as high as $19 billion in other reports) in upgrades and additions to the IT infrastructure of America's health care system are supported in this Stimulus Package; more than Federal Government, State & Local Government, and Education sectors combined.

In the report, a pie chart was used to represent all the sectors addressed by the Stimulus Package.  Education had the smallest slice which represented only $620 million.  Money for R&D upgrades (high performance clusters) at universities and institutions comprised a sector, as did Federal and State & Local government.  Each of these sectors provides work for the IT community, but almost half the Economic Stimulus money is going to Healthcare.  The Healthcare sector dominated all other sectors with a slice equivalent to half the pie.  It doesn't take a business visionary to see that tomorrow's business opportunity for the Channel is in supplying and serving the healthcare industry.

Industry pundits have been telling us for more than a year that the near-term growth opportunities are in healthcare, security, and "green" technologies.  The wisdom of their guidance is undeniable now; the new Economic Stimulus package establishes the government's priorities with regard to IT infrastructure and upgrades.  Clearly, healthcare is the top priority.  Is it possible that the priorities illustrated by the government's IT spending today will remain the government's policies for tomorrow?  Will "Stim II" provide additional investments in IT infrastructure for the target sectors?  And will the proportions remain the same?  I think Healthcare will be a government priority for at least the next decade.  Its expansion and modernization represents a welcome opportunity for the channel at large.  It's "business as usual" of course, but be sure to set aside a half-day each week for executing a plan to Diversify.

Read More In: Business Peer Advice Education Government Healthcare