The catalyst to the wild ride on Wall Street was credit rating agency Standard & Poor's announcement, last Friday after the markets closed, that it had downgraded its rating on U.S. debt, citing political paralysis over how to reduce the country's deficit. On Monday, S&P downgraded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two home financing giants backed by the federal government.

The government's last-minute pact on the deficit reached last week included spending cuts and an agreement to close certain tax loopholes. It allowed the nation's debt ceiling to be raised and avoided a default on obligations such as pay to federal workers and payments to bond holders.

But the brinksmanship shown by congressional leaders during the talks helped push the S&P to its downgrade and spooked investors and businesses alike.

"People may be thinking that if these guys in Washington are prepared to crash the credit rating, what else are they prepared to do," said Andrew Bartels, chief economist at Forrester. "Businesses are likely to be cautious about what they're doing."

Though businesses have shown readiness to slash staff before making cuts in IT spending, prolonged uncertainty or an economic slowdown will have an effect on IT spending growth, Bartels said.