In the current economy, companies are paying closer attention to costs they have taken for granted for years. Since the downturn began, Architel has helped new clients save tens of thousands of dollars by transitioning from internal IT departments to outsourced IT support.

This kind of belt-tightening is good for small and midsize companies, because it enables them to focus on their most important priority: building their businesses.

It’s a new level of discipline we expect will continue even with a return to economic growth in 2010. And that’s a good thing.

As Nick Sharma points out at CIO Update:

As 2010 dawns, the recession is slowly retracting. Companies learned valuable lessons, streamlined operations and are starting to hire and to refocus their energy on making this a profitable year. For example, in 2009, CFOs were highly involved with determining IT budgets … One benefit of this in 2010 will be … leaner but more efficient budget(s), as companies continue to maximize return on investment and operational expenditure.

If you’re a small or midsize company that has been doing IT the same way forever, with steadily rising costs and increasing headaches, there’s never been a better time to consider a course correction — for navigating the current economy, and beyond.