To be able to do that, it is good not to forget that despite their own worries vendors are still playing ball. It is interesting to note that while in earlier years there seemed a huge difference in pricing or discounting between the top vendors and the others, this year CIOs say they see a very small difference between multinationals and the smaller vendors.

Another tactic is to change the length of a contract's term to take advantage of naturally-occurring market corrections. It's something HCL BPO's Ramdas has had experience with. He says that he recently reworked a one-year contract -- with a one-year pricing -- to a monthly scheme in order to take the best advantage of a product's falling price.

Sometimes there are opportunities for larger-than-usual discounts if a CIO is willing to buy products to fit the accounting needs of his or her vendor. But often it means purchasing equipment earlier than an enterprise needs it. In many of these cases, the opportunity arises when a vendor pushes its sales reps to meet a quarterly target of units and they turn to CIOs for help -- in exchange for discounts.

Most CIOs agree that they would take advantage of the situation, although their reasons differ. They also say that they will only do it for specific products or services like bandwidth for which their organization's future use can be estimated.

Arora, however, says that organizations should avoid being pressured into hurried buying just for discounts, "organizations with shorter sight would certainly end up doing this," he points out, demonstrating how one CIO's strategy is another's poison.