I am glad that Craig Mundie of Microsoft has said it: Research is what you do more of when there is a recession.

http://www.techworld.com/news/index.cfm?newsID=111312&printerfriendly=1

Cost Containment and Product Development are vital in a recession. The first keeps the ship afloat, the second gets the company ready for the next boom time.

Cutting R&D has horrific consequences:

1. You are weakening your pipeline. When the recession is over, you can only provide your customers with what you had before. Your competitors will have spent their time building the next great widget, and you will suffer during the initial phases of the boom.
2. You are weakening your teams interest in development and change. Imagine how hard it will be when you want to make changes and your teams have learned that it is the “change guys” that will get cut.
3. You are bleeding out your talent pool and send a clear message to the job market that yours is not a same place to work in. Product Developers will not exactly flock to your team.

Product Development is one of the vital elements of a business. Learning how to do it with less risk and resources is what is needed now, not pink slips.