IT SPENDING
Euro e-com firms want it their way
European e-commerce companies want that personal touch from software vendors, according to a recent report from market researcher Frost & Sullivan Inc., in Mountain View, Calif.
Given the need for companies to remain competitive, along with their natural fears of being surpassed by competitors, Frost & Sullivan expects that this desire for customized applications will help push e-commerce software sales in Europe from $533.8 million last year to $2.5 billion in 2006.
Results of the study also indicate that one-size-fits-all applications “are still perceived as too rigid and overdependent on integrators.”
Wallets stay open around the world
The recent slowdown of the U.S. economy wont put the brakes on IT spending in the United States or abroad, says a recent report from Boston-based research company Aberdeen Group.
Due in large part to Internet-infrastructure enhancement projects in the U.S., Western European and Asian markets, global IT spending is forecast to grow at a compounded annual rate of 9.6 percent, according to Aberdeens recently released report, “Worldwide Technology Spending 2001-2005.”
India and China alone are forecast to have strong growth exceeding 20 percent of total annual hardware, software and services spending growth over the near term, the report says. North America, meanwhile, is forecast to experience a near-term growth rate of 8.5 percent between this year and next year, according to the report.
