Slumping tech companies head to Washington for sales
Just like Oracle which got its start with a contract from the CIA some 25 years ago, according to this Wall Street Journal story (subscription required),
Companies ranging from Oracle Corp. to Microsoft Corp. to PeopleSoft Inc. are beefing up their Washington sales teams and retooling their marketing aimed at all levels of government. Their goal: a big slice of the spending planned for homeland security and other initiatives.
Federal spending on information technology is expected to rise nearly 10% to almost $53 billion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2003. Even cash-strapped state and local governments spent $78 billion last year on high-tech products and services.
In fat times, that might not be enough to turn heads among companies feeding the $1.2 trillion global technology marketplace. But total information-technology spending is projected to increase by only 5% a year from 2003 to 2005, down from double-digit increases in the past, says Boston-based market researcher Aberdeen Group.