You can be a contrary bunch at times, you hardy IT professionals.

According to the latest research, your confidence in the current business environment is at an all-time low ­- although you are slightly more optimistic than the average worker.

Yet you are spending more on technology than ever before ­ – an estimated eight per cent more than last year.

How much would you spend if you were feeling good about the economy?

It’s a rhetorical question, of course. But anyone that has been in the industry for more than five years will remember the last great IT downturn in the post-dot com era and the short-term effect that had on their budgets and job prospects. Those with even longer memories and perhaps greyer hair will possibly recall the troubles of the early 1990s when IBM made what was, at the time, the largest corporate loss in history.

Technology clearly cannot be immune to the wider problems of the business world – ­ but as a profession you do seem to have learned some important lessons.

The fact that global IT spending is still increasing suggests there is a realisation that wise but prudent investment is a way to survive any downturn. Those companies that kept their nerve during the dot com bust are perhaps now some of the strongest around ­ – and their use of IT has been central to that.

But one thing that troubled times can also do is accelerate change where it is most needed.

The focus on evolving the skills profile of UK IT professionals is becoming even more acute.

The very best of you will be more sought after than ever ­ – and for the rest, the need to develop in areas such as business awareness and communication skills will become pressing.

Those who use their fears over the future in a positive way to turn themselves into genuine hybrid business-IT professionals will be the ones that emerge with most confidence.