Market conditions

By B.J. Richards

In last year’s report on the Australian consulting market, we wondered if 2013 would be remembered as the year that the troubles of the world finally found their way to Australia. The global financial crisis (or GFC, as the locals like to call it) had long been wreaking havoc across much of the world, and yet Australia had remained largely unbothered – it’s enormous physical distance from most other modern economies serving as a highly effective buffer.

By Fiona Czerniawska

The tragic events in Ukraine over the summer are a salutary reminder of just how desperately unpredictable the situation there remains.

By Edward Haigh

A year ago I asked an Indian systems integrator if they were planning to target the French market where organisations were in deep cost cutting mode.  “Too hard,” was the response: leaving aside the usual barriers to doing business in France (have you been to the right école?), French businesses were thought to be culturally inclined against IT outsourcing and strict labour laws precluded most of the potential savings.