Forrester: IT Investments In e-Commerce Alive And Well

Three-fourths of surveyed companies will maintain or increase e-commerce investments

Three-fourths of surveyed companies will maintain or increase e-commerce investments

Cambridge, MA — January 5, 2004 — Despite the dot-com bust, Forrester Research Inc. said that IT investments in e-commerce are alive and well. New research from Forrester estimated that e-commerce budgets would outpace the rest of IT budgets, with about three-fourths of companies maintaining or increasing their investments in e-commerce initiatives.

Spending on sell-side (customer-facing) e-commerce initiatives will grow by 4.8 percent, and buy-side (supplier-facing) spending will be more in line with overall IT budgets, growing at 1.9 percent, according to the research firm.

Forrester's survey of 212 e-commerce decision-makers with either a sell- or buy-side technology role revealed that customer-facing initiatives will see the largest growth, with 40 percent of companies increasing their spending, while 28 percent of companies will increase their spending in supplier-facing initiatives.

Forrester stated the following additional findings:

* Spending on Web-based apps and full-time development staff will lead the charge.

* Improving user experience — improved usability, enhanced self-service, and driving customers to use online channels — will be a key theme.

* Security will top the list of planned technology purchases for e-commerce activities.

* Unlike the market for IT consulting services overall, e-commerce consulting and implementation services are also expected to grow.

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