Sam Palmisano, CEO of IBM, believes the current economic crisis offers a major opportunity for IBM.

“We’ve been given this on a silver platter,” says Sam Palmisano, CEO of IBM. “We might as well use it as an opportunity.”

See “Big Blue’s Big Plan” in Fortune.

“As companies around the globe try to get ahead of the economic maelstrom by laying off employees, shuttering factories, and cutting R&D, IBM is headed in another direction.”

The direction IBM is heading is to position itself as a leader in infrastructure overhaul, potentially tapping into President-elect Obama’s idea to stimulate the economy through a “New Deal” style investment in infrastructure projects.

Every company should be looking for ways its products and services can help customers during these difficult economic times. Can you help customer lower costs, achieve efficiencies? Make those claims clear in your positioning and back them up with evidence.