"For years, we've talked about how information technology enables companies to do more with less," writes Microsoft supremo Steve Ballmer in his latest "Executive Email" to Microsoft customers and analysts. "But during this economic reset," Ballmer continues, "IT provides business leaders with the answer to a slightly different question: Can my company with less, do more?"

This process is what Ballmer terms in his memo "The New Efficiency."

"I believe we are entering a period of technology-driven transformation that will see a surge in productivity and a flowering of innovation," Ballmer gushes, adding:

"Despite the challenges posed by the global economic reset, I'm optimistic about the long-term opportunities that lie ahead. I'm optimistic because there are encouraging signs that growth may resume in many parts of the world during the course of the next year."

"The new efficiency," he ends his memo, "will not only help companies respond to today's economic reality, it will lay the foundation for systems and solutions that connect people to information, applications, and to other people in new ways. The result will be a wave of innovative products and services that will jumpstart economic growth as companies deliver breakthroughs that solve old problems and serve as the catalyst for new businesses and even new industries."

"This too will be the new normal," Ballmer continues - using a term he notes comes up more and more frequently in all the talk about the economy - "economic growth driven not by debt and consumption, but by rising productivity and new ideas that provide real value to people throughout their lives. Information technology will play an important role."

"I look forward to seeing the progress that results," Ballmer concludes.