GLOBAL DEMAND FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, CONNECTIVITY, AND
WEB-Based Commerce Spurs Opportunities for IT Vendors, IDC Study Finds
Report Examines Where Opportunities Lie for IT Vendors of Internet
Products and Services
FRAMINGHAM, Mass., July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Internet deployment
varies greatly across countries, industries, and size classes. Despite these
different paces, market players continue to grow in number and the
competition becomes fiercer as each day passes.
According to a new report published by International Data Corporation,
this landscape provides a wealth of opportunities for IT and
communications vendors across the globe. Burgeoning Internet
activities in Asia/Pacific, particularly within the People's Republic
of China, dictate the need for stronger infrastructure. In Western
Europe, especially in France, the demand for increased connectivity is
urgent. In Japan, Australia, Scandinavia, and the United States, users
are clamoring for more proficient Web-based commerce.
These opportunities pose unique challenges for IT suppliers around the
world. IDC's new report, Varied Internet Deployment Spells a Variety
of Vendor Opportunities, provides insight into these challenges by
examining the pace at which regions are accessing the Internet and the
World Wide Web, and how quickly they are proceeding in their
implementation of home pages. This report looks at who is hosting
these pages and which internal division is responsible for content.
In addition, the research reveals which activities are being conducted
on their home pages (i.e., customer service and support, product
information, sales transactions).
This study addresses these questions through an analysis of Internet-
specific data collected in the 1998 Global IT Survey, a survey
consisting of 15,000 interviews across 13 countries worldwide. The
countries surveyed include the United States, France, Germany, Italy,
Netherlands, Scandinavia (including Sweden and Denmark), the United
Kingdom, Australia, PRC, India, Japan, Korea, and Malaysia.
"While Internet adoption continues to snowball worldwide, differences
in the magnitude of adoption level among countries present wide and
varying opportunities for IT vendors," said Nicole Comiskey, research
analyst, Global Research Services. "By closely examining what IS
managers say about the present and predict about the future, vendors
can gain the necessary understanding to capture these markets."
For example, of those countries surveyed, those in Asia/Pacific now
lead the world in Internet connectivity, with nearly 63 percent of
sites claiming access to the Internet/World Wide Web. This lead is due
in large part to Australia, which ranked at the top in terms of access,
and Korea, which placed third. In last year's Global IT Survey, Korea
showed high current and anticipated Web access plans. This finding
seems to support Korea's previous claims in the 1997 survey to
implement plans that would increase access.
A closer look at home page usage shows nearly 28 percent of those
surveyed have developed a home page at their companies. In
Scandinavia, which is recognized as a region of early adopters, more
than 62 percent of companies have a home page. This is due in large
part to the unparalleled high number of small and medium sites that
host a home page. The United States experiences a strong home page
presence, but within the larger sites. Results obtained through the
survey point to an increase in home page usage that tends to rise with
the size of the site. Home page penetration also fluctuates across the
different vertical industries surveyed, with higher penetration in
education, banking, process manufacturing, insurance, other finance,
and government.
"Ultimately, the vendors that understand the individual market dynamics
and can tailor their strategies accordingly, will reap the success
available from these opportunities," said Comiskey.
Varied Internet Deployment Spells a Variety of Vendor Opportunities
(IDC #B16248) can be purchased by contacting Cheryl Toffel at
800-343-4952 or by e- mail at ctoffel@idc.com. For additional
information about IDC's Internet Research, please contact Elizabeth
Freedman at 508-935-4764. To receive details on the Global IT Survey
and related special information services, please contact Lisa Bloom at
508-935-4236.
About IDC
Headquartered in Framingham, Mass., International Data Corporation
provides IT market research and consulting to more than 3,900
high-technology customers around the world. With a global network of
300 analysts in more than 40 countries, IDC is the industry's most
comprehensive resource on worldwide IT markets, products, vendors, and
geographies.
IDC/LINK, an IDC subsidiary, researches and analyzes the home computing
market, leading-edge technologies in telecommunications and new media,
and the convergence of computing and consumer electronics.
IDC's World Wide Web site idc.com ) contains additional
company information and recent news releases, and offers full-text
searching of recent research.
IDC is a division of International Data Group, the world's leading IT
media, research and exposition company.
All product and company names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective holders.
SOURCE International Data Corporation
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