As we have discussed here before *business to business* is where e-commerce is at right now. The growth will continue to be EXPONENTIAL. NOVL is sitting on top of a mine of GOLD: I take this dip as a buying opportunity.
From the NYT:
April 14, 1999
Computer Age Gains Respect of
Economists
By STEVE LOHR
..................................................
American corporations long ago made up their minds, voting for
technology with their dollars. Investment in information technology --
computing and telecommunications gear -- has quadrupled over the last
decade, rising as a share of all business spending on equipment from 29
percent to 53 percent, according to the Commerce Department. And
that is only the hardware. There have been similar surges in corporate
spending on software, consulting, technical support and training related to
the field.
"The payoff from information technology is unquestionably there with
individual companies and we're seeing it over and over again," said
Chuck Rieger, a senior consultant at IBM's services division.
Of course, anecdotal evidence from individual companies is no proof of
broad-based benefits in an $8.5-trillion economy. But what many experts
find encouraging is that the rapid introduction of low-cost Internet
technology means most companies can now afford to set up electronic
links with customers and suppliers. For example, a recent survey of
2,500 manufacturing companies, conducted by
PricewaterhouseCoopers, found that the number of factories with
Internet links to customers and suppliers doubled last year.
At more and more companies, these Internet-based networks are
already streamlining the mundane chores of business life like invoicing,
purchasing and inventory control. This is not the glamorous side of
Internet commerce, occupied by Amazon.com and others selling
consumer products. Yet if a technology dividend in productivity is at
hand, the place to look is in the back offices of business. "That is where it
will be," Solow, the MIT economists, said, "in the wholesale automation
of corporate transactions."
This business-to-business commerce over the Internet is projected to
jump from $48 billion in 1998 to $1.5 trillion by 2003, according to
Forrester Research Inc. During the same period, the research firm
estimates that consumer sales over Internet will rise from $3.9 billion to
$108 billion.
nytimes.com |
