Having heard the points above several times that day, I was in a business meeting where the facilitator mentioned that companies, particularly manufacturers, had experienced massive productivity enhancements since the 1990s due to Information Technology solutions. Then it hit me. While companies struggle to find a place to put cash to work with a more certain return, why not look to invest some of those dollars into internal and external data integration projects? They have measurable return, streamline company operations, provide efficiencies in tough times, and offer economies of scale in good times.