However, suggests Marc Gower, Business Applications Sales Executive for Public Sector at Microsoft, we are starting to see an increasing number of companies, especially those in the financial services sector, adopting a new mindset in this regard. They no longer see a system upgrade as being about more efficient operations or lower costs; instead, it has become about leveraging the capabilities of technology to do things differently.

Essentially, he points out, business and technology have become much closer. Technology is no longer viewed as being there to service the business; rather, the two are seen as partners.