If you listen to some of the experts, there's plenty of talk that the dark, blustery days of 2009 are about to end, and there are signs that the recession may soon be over.

While there are some positive trends, the unemployment rate remains at 10.2 percent nationally. Many companies are still operating with very tight belts and are hesitant to go full throttle again.

Having said all that, it's probably time for some businesses to plan for the end of the recession even if the numbers haven't quite caught up with reality.

When more business starts to pick up, companies will need to be ready to rehire the IT workers that were laid off, find top talent out in the marketplace and make investments in hardware, software and some of the new technologies.

We report this week on a survey by Goldman Sachs that found that IT professionals anticipate spending on technology will stop contracting sometime next year and begin to return to the levels seen before the recession. But a great deal depends on the broader economic and business environment, and the pace of recovery, Goldman said.

The investment bank said the biggest emphasis on new spending will be on infrastructure, application development and systems integration. This means a continued push for technologies such as virtualization and cloud computing. This hopeful prediction could undo the current wreckage.

An ongoing survey of IT effectiveness for small- and medium-sized businesses released in mid-November showed that the manufacturing industry has been hit hardest by the recession, with 66 percent of respondents delaying, halting or canceling IT projects. Fifty percent of the manufacturing industry respondents indicated they are understaffed or critically understaffed in their IT operations, according to the IT Effectiveness Index (ITEI). The manufacturing industry was followed by the communications sector, where 55 percent of the ITEI respondents said they had put IT projects on hold, and 50 percent said they are understaffed or critically understaffed. Fifty-two percent of the survey participants in the wholesale industry also said they had cut their IT budgets.

The computer industry also has been hit, but not as much as other sectors. Thirty-three percent said IT projects have been delayed or halted due to the recession and 24 percent said their firms are understaffed, according to the survey.

All this shows the impact of the recession on IT jobs and spending, and the potential for expansion once the economy picks up steam. Let's hope the turnaround is just around the corner (as Goldman Sachs has predicted), that it is robust, and that new IT spending will come along with increased job opportunities. - Judi