Global firms to cut e-business spending

Brussels, 05 April 2002

Global firms will dramatically cut their e-business technology budgets this year, according to a new survey from Forrester Research.

The survey, which took in 900 IT and business heads at global companies, found the firms are looking to slash their budgets to an average of 33 million euro from 47 million euro in 2002.

Tom Pohlmann, a senior analyst at Forrester, said: 'Compared with 2001, companies are much more risk-averse when considering new technologies, opting to make do with what they have before buying more.'

This year, the number of firms investing in basic server, network and storage hardware is likely to fall by 23 per cent on last year, while fewer than half of the global companies will consider buying enterprise application software and procurement in 2002.

The survey also found that company executives estimate web-generated revenues will account for 7.3 per cent of overall corporate revenues this year, compared with 5.7 per cent in 2001. The executives also expect that in five years, online revenue will make up 20 per cent of total corporate revenues.

For further details, please consult the following web address: http://www.forrester.com

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