Those measures should enable Schumacher to weather the storm while avoiding many steps, Menefee said. For instance, Menefee has no plans to stop paying maintenance on its on-premises software. He also plans to maintain his schedule of refreshing desktop hardware every three years.

Menefee also has no plans to increase his limited use of open-source software. "I never jumped on that bandwagon," he said. He plans to take a , though, as a way to easily connect Schumacher and the 2,400 doctors who work as its independent contractors.

Finally, Menefee plans no layoffs in his IT department, and expects it to grow by 20%, to 50 total from 41 today. Most of that growth will be in India, where Schumacher employs five IT staffers today.

Smooth sailing for auto engineering services firm

Juergen Veith is managing director of Tecosim GmbH, a based in Russelsheim, Germany.