Compiled by Vicky Nolan
E-Business Even Affects the Workplace
With the shift to e-business, many companies are seeing their most valuable asset is the knowledge worker, leading to a transformation of the workplace. By 2005, 75 percent of global enterprises will require major overhauls of governance, people management, workplace policies and workforce planning in response to a shift to knowledge as the center of wealth production, according to GartnerGroup.
Company analysts say the knowledge workplace represents the intersection of three key trends: the leverage of intellectual capital, the virtualization of the workplace and the shift from hierarchical to organic
models of management.
www.gartner.com
Online Retail Sales Destined to Re-Shape European Retail Marketplace
Online retail sales in Europe will grow 98 percent over the next five years, soaring from 2.9 billion euros in 1999 to 175 billion euros in 2005, eventually having a major impact on the retail marketplace, according to Forrester Research.
"Over the next five years, both Internet pure plays and traditional retailers must develop cross-border strategies that culminate in pan-European sales, or their businesses will be eroded by competitors who
do," said Matthew Nordan, senior analyst. "The resulting industry consolidation will shrink the number of pure plays to a few pan-European leaders, while traditional retailers, leveraging their considerable
strengths, will claim more than 75 percent of online sales in Europe by 2003."
www.forrester.com
Storing All That E-Data
The North American storage utility market is expected to grow from nearly $10 million in 1999 to $8 billion in 2003, according to GartnerGroup's Dataquest. The growth is a result of greater storage capacity demands and the explosive e-business market.
Dataquest analysts said storage utility penetration of corporate data centers is not expected to exceed $1 billion until 2003. In contrast, storage utility revenue generated through Internet data centers is projected
to reach almost $6 billion by 2003.
The company defines storage utility as the provisioning of storage capacity for servers on a usage basis, delivered via a network at a user site, remotely or over the Internet.
www.gartner.com
Workers' Remote Access Causing Big Headaches
As more and more workers opt to work from home or on the road, the situation is creating a bigger problem for company network managers. In fact, a survey of 195 network managers by Datamonitor shows remote access is considered the most problematic issue for nearly a quarter of respondents.
In addition, more than three-quarters of European enterprises provide remote access to their key users, which is expected to increase by 2001.
The respondents cited other concerns, including security; the infrastructure deployed (network managers can choose from a combination of internal and external access solutions, including the Internet);
guaranteeing levels of service; and internal business issues, such as who should be given remote access services.
www.datamonitor.com
The Four "Givens" Are No Longer a Guarantee of Success
ActivMedia Research has found that providing the four "givens" (quality, price, convenience and product availability) are no longer a guarantee of success for online retails. Instead, e-tailers begin with customer satisfaction when creating a competitive advantage. Consumers whose wants and needs are satisfied are more likely to become loyal customers.
The company's research shows that, overall, today's websites serve consumers well, which is why the Web has succeeded as a selling tool. To establish a competitive online position, however, companies must pay attention to high-leverage opportunities where consumers are not yet well served by established websites.
www.activmediaresearch.com
Financial Services Slow Down Online Advertising
While online advertising for the financial services industry is growing at a slower rate than other industries during February, financial services are actually spending a greater percentage of their total ad budgets online, reports AdRelevance.
Other findings include:
- Eighty percent of financial services advertising impressions appear on only eight websites;
- Over the last three months, advertising impressions for these companies grew at an average weekly rate of one percent, compared to the industry average of four percent;
- The number of new companies entering the financial services advertising arena increased at a rate of 13 percent, versus the industry average of 21 percent.
www.adrelevance.com