InformationWeek

January 8, 2001

Behind The Numbers:
Quality Of Life Concerns Intensify In 2001

he calendar has changed, but will 2001 be any easier for IT professionals? Consider the workplace and how much time you spend there. Is another 12 months of long days and lost weekends acceptable to your IT team? According to InformationWeek Research's Outlook For 2001 Study of 300 IT executives, apparently not.

IT managers are bracing themselves for an increase in quality-of-life concerns among IT workers. Executives at midsize companies expect to be hit the hardest. Almost 60% of IT managers at businesses with annual revenue of $100 million to $1 billion anticipate that working fewer hours will become a growing issue for those in their IT department. That same sentiment is expected to confront 41% of executives at small companies and 39% at large ones.

Chart 1 Increased collaboration with third-party service providers is the bromide most often sought to alleviate staff workload. Nine in 10 IT executives at large and small companies polled by InformationWeek Research and eight in 10 at midsize businesses say they will delegate assignments to outsourcing companies or perfect workflow with the help of IT consultants in 2001.

But such arrangements might not be a sure-fire way to shorten days at the office. New strategies such as E-marketplace deployment are set to explode in the next 12 months, and reluctance to settle on a definitive E-business model will produce an eclectic variety of IT initiatives at most companies. Under such circumstances, shorting workdays for full-time IT workers won't only be a challenge, it will be extremely difficult.

How does your company plan to balance the needs of its IT workers with its own IT priorities in the next 12 months? Let us know at the address below.

Own the data behind InformationWeek's Research. See our available reports at http://informationweek.com/reports

Helen D'Antoni
Research Manager
hdantoni@cmp.com

This week in Behind The Numbers:

Small Sites Ramp Up

E-Business In Flux

E-Marketplaces: Opportunity Knocks

Government Told To Stay Away

Chart 2 Small Sites Ramp Up
Filling job vacancies with talented, available workers remains a challenge for most companies. But this difficulty isn't preventing small companies, those with annual revenue of less than $100 million, from meeting their IT and business goals for 2001. To ensure that objectives are achieved, 46% of small businesses plan to increase their collaboration with consultants and service providers over the next 12 months, and these companies are leading the way in such partnerships. Their intent surpasses even that of stronger revenue performers; 39% of midsize companies and 35% of large ones plan to boost their involvement with outsourcers and consultants.

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Chart 3 E-Business In Flux
Companies have realized that flexibility might be the best strategy when competing for a slice of the E-business market. Evolving technology, shifting consumer expectations, and changes in the initiatives of key competitors make committing to a set E-business model seem unwise.

Companies may be pursuing E-business opportunities, but settling on a definitive plan has yet to become a goal at a majority of those surveyed. In all, 61% of businesses with revenue of more than $1 billion, 54% of companies with annual earnings of $100 million to $1 billion, and 49% of companies with revenue of less than $100 million remain open to changing their E-business model.

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Chart 4 E-Marketplaces: Opportunity Knocks
E-marketplace participation is set to erupt in the next 12 months. The opportunities these online sites offer are proving too tempting for companies to ignore. Businesses, regardless of revenue size, are looking to test the E-marketplace waters in 2001. Two-thirds of large sites have made E-marketplace use a high priority in the coming year. Three in five midsize companies intend to follow suit, and small businesses aren't far behind: Just over half of small companies surveyed by InformationWeek Research for its Outlook For 2001 study say E-marketplace participation is one of their priorities.

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Chart 5 Government Told To Stay Away
IT managers remain staunchly opposed to government intervention to ensure adequate privacy protection of users of the Internet.

Approximately two-thirds of companies polled by InformationWeek Research say that such involvement isn't warranted--a sentiment that crosses all revenue levels.

What will it take for businesses to have a change of heart? Consumer demand or marked declines in online earnings might provoke a change. Reconsideration might even be incited by a few business violations. Companies are, after all, expecting to dramatically increase their use of the Internet in the coming 12 months--and increased use makes the possibility of privacy infringement all the more possible.

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