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IT firms need to diversify the range of products and services they sell to survive the impact of current market conditions, an industry research firm says.
Global software giant SAP's share price plunged this week when it revealed sales had fallen below forecast levels due to the impact of the international credit crisis.
David Mitchell, a senior researcher at IT analyst firm Ovum, said SAP should not be blamed for the general market malaise.
"Many other companies have reported a softening of market demand and each will have its 15 minutes of fame when it either posts revenue figures that do not meet expectations or pre-warns of those results."
He added that IT companies needed to diversify and recommended global IT companies focus their sales efforts on geographical markets which have suffered less from the financial crisis, including the Asia-Pacific region.
