Recent market research reports and earnings this week from tech bellwethers including Lenovo and Cisco Systems underscore underlying strength in IT even as the global economy continues to experience significant turbulence.

Telecommunication equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent reported a profit for the fourth quarter, but revenue fell 12.9 percent year-on-year as the company continues to face a challenging market, it said on Friday.

Vodafone reported a 2.3 percent drop in revenue for the last three months of 2011, as economic conditions, particularly across southern Europe, continue to be weak.

Lenovo's profit in its fiscal third quarter ended December 31 grew 54 per cent year-over-year, as the company saw growth in many key markets.

Microsoft is looking at creating a bridge between Lync, its enterprise IM, voice and video communications product, and Skype as part of its broader initiative to extend the Office platform, a company executive said on Wednesday.

Cisco Systems posted year-over-year gains in revenue and profit for its fiscal second quarter on Wednesday, reporting net sales up 10.8 percent to US$11.5 billion, and said it met a key cost-cutting goal one quarter early.

Cognizant Technology Solutions posted strong growth in revenue and profits in the fourth quarter of 2011, indicating that a few focused players continue to grow, even as demand for offshoring is flat because of uncertain economic conditions.

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