InfoWorld blogger Bill Snyder has advice on two ways to accomplish this resolution. First, squeeze every IT dollar. "Make sure that any business unit or employee requesting a purchase can explain how it will contribute to profitability. Demand specifics, not generalizations," he says. Second, "hire slowly, . It's tempting to cut costs by cutting personnel, and sometimes that's necessary. But remember that losing experienced personnel can cost a business in the long run. Institutional memory is precious."

One specific way to save money smartly is to be open to open source, advises InfoWorld blogger Zach Urlocker. "In many cases, organizations just default to certain closed source applications or infrastructure decisions because they are not familiar with other options," he notes. Yet, open source approaches can reduce total cost by as much as 90 percent over traditional offerings. There's another benefit for staffers: "Even if the decision is made to go with closed source, staff will appreciate getting exposure to new technologies."

And whatever you do, remember that interpersonal relationships are especially key to succeeding in tough times, advises Advice Line blogger Lewis. "No matter what you're trying to accomplish, the interpersonal relationships have to work before anything useful will happen. If it's , for example, everyone with a hand in your new processes has to trust everyone else with a hand in the process, or they'll second-guess each other's work to death. This will turn even the most efficient process design into sludge. If it's offshore development, to take a second example, it won't work unless the onshore analysts and offshore developers have confidence in each others' abilities."

InfoWorld resources: A in tough times, , , , blog, and InfoWorld .

4. Be ready for the cloud. You're going to need to cut costs this year -- that's no secret. But you can do so in a way that prepares you for the cloud computing platforms now emerging, argues NBC Universal's Williams. "What if all IT departments cut their datacenter capacity by 20 percent in 2009 and in 2010?" he poses.