So if the media are to be believed the sky is falling ... and whilst there is no doubt that a lot of industries are feeling the pain of the current economic downturn, it is interesting to see a very defensive approach to business. In my discussions with business leaders three topics seem to be front of mind;

1. Doing More With Less
2. Establishing a Competitive Advantage
3. Staff Engagement

Given these priorities, I believe we will see innovative and aggressive businesses further exploit disruptive technologies such as Open Source Software, Software as a Service, and Corporate Social Networking to gain an advantage over the competition.

Open Source Software

Firstly, lets start with open source software. Open source is the poster child for technology disruption. Software is typically developed by a community (many of whom do so in their spare time), is typically distributed for free, and innovation is shared by all. For business, open source provides not only a very cost effective solution, it also provides a very open platform for innovation. In an environment where CIO's are being asked to deliver more with ever shrinking budgets, open source has to be a serious contender in any major technology decision. Open platforms and open ecosystems are disruptive and a huge competitive advantage as they allow others to extend your business and create a richer offering. The big players in this space include Red Hat (Linux) and Oracle (MySQL) (via the Sun acquisition).

Software as a Service

Software as a Service has many names - you may have heard it referred to as SaaS, Utility Computing, Cloud Computing or On-Demand. Regardless of what you call it, SaaS providers typically deliver an application over the web - you get to use the application - the provider worries about the technology stack (hardware, databases etc). Most services are sold on a subscription basis. A simple example of SaaS would be an online email account like gmail or hotmail. You get mail, Google operates the mail server. The beauty of SaaS is that small business can have access to the same leading technology applications that large companies do, without the capital costs of buying a whole lot of IT infrastructure. The advantage for a large company is that SaaS allows you to focus on your core business ... and not have to worry about having a huge IT department. SaaS is disruptive as it gives businesses a lot of agility and levels the playing field. The big players in this market are companies like salesforce.com (CRM), Google (apps), and Workday (HR); but a wide variety of applications from ERP to email to office productivity can be delivered via SaaS.

Corporate Social Networking

The new buzz in tech is "social", and even corporates can't avoid getting involved. Even with the hype, corporate social networking will become the logical evolution of today's corporate intranets - the big difference being interactivity. The typical corporate intranet is quite stale - information rarely gets updated, and content creation is usually centralised. The "social" extension of intranets will allow employees to more easily connect with each other, create content, vote for and suggest new ideas and initiatives - and do this in same way they already do on sites like facebook and twitter in their personal lives. Increasing your ability to engage with your employees, crowdsource ideas, and grease communication is disruptive as it fosters a more grass-roots culture of innovation and collaboration within an organisation. Some players in this space include Jive and Yammer. 

So whilst its never a bad idea to tighten the belt on the financial aspects of an organisation, in a contracting market, I believe there is a huge opportunity for innovative companies to establish solid competitive advantage and differentiation though the use of disruptive technologies - with very little if not zero investment! The great thing about the internet is that experimentation is usually low cost or free - it just takes a little sweat and a little vision.