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January 22, 2001

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Behind The Numbers:
IT Managers Seek Basic Wireless Commerce

ith the growing proliferation of cell phones, personal digital assistants, and notebook computers with wireless modems, there's no question that the wireless market is booming. But IT managers aren't sure whether the wireless boom will help them sell more products. Instead of focusing on mobile E-commerce, managers seem more interested in providing employees with wireless access to company applications. That's one of the key findings of a Mobile Commerce Agenda Study of 375 IT managers conducted recently by InformationWeek Research.

The importance of accessing company applications via wireless devices helps to explain why those surveyed place a high value on such devices, even though they're not sure it will help them make more sales. Despite their skepticism, more than 80% of the IT managers surveyed say they believe that handheld devices with Internet access will be highly or somewhat important during the next 12 months.

Only about one in five IT managers say that mobile or wireless E-commerce will make a major contribution to their company's revenue stream this year. Nearly half say that wireless or mobile E-commerce will make no contribution to their revenue stream or that they don't participate in that market. That attitude seems consistent regardless of whether the company focuses on business-to-business markets, business-to-consumer markets, or both.

Among the top reasons managers give for not deploying wireless E-commerce applications: the market opportunity is unproven, there isn't much customer demand, it doesn't fit the company's business model, or there's a lack of support from senior management. A majority (51%) of IT managers surveyed at companies that specialize in business-to-consumer markets also complain about the lack of packaged software, but that wasn't a big issue (19%) for IT managers at B-to-B companies.

In contrast, there seems to be great enthusiasm for providing wireless access to company applications such as E-mail, intranets, electronic newsletters, order status, and company portals. Wireless access to those applications can provide immediate benefits for employees and cut costs, even if such access doesn't help increase revenue.

Do you expect wireless devices to benefit your company in the next 12 months? Let us know.

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

Paul Travis
Senior News Editor
ptravis@cmp.com

This week in Behind The Numbers:

Expectations Differ Hesitation Exists E-Mail Tops All Guarantees Required

Expectations Differ
Opinions vary on whether sales from mobile or wireless devices will boost E-business revenue in 2001. Seventeen percent of companies serving the business-to-business market are counting on wireless orders and anticipate that mobile or wireless transactions will make a major contribution to their E-business revenue by year's end; 17% of business-to-consumer businesses surveyed by InformationWeek Research report the same.

But companies that focus on both the business and consumer markets are slightly more optimistic: 21% expect their E-business earnings this year to benefit substantially from sales made via mobile or wireless devices.

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Hesitation Exists
Handheld devices with Internet access have captured the attention of American businesses. Just 14% of companies serving the business-to-consumer markets and 13% of business-to-business companies are taking a wait-and-see attitude on handheld deployment. InformationWeek Research's Mobile Commerce Agenda Study found that companies

serving both the business and consumer markets are slightly more hesitant. In all, 17% say handheld Internet access isn't important. But as most market competitors are investing in these gadgets, time will tell if they made a wise choice.

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E-Mail Tops All
Considering the time spent managing E-mail messages, it shouldn't come as a surprise that a corporate E-mail system is the top wireless Internet application companies are investing in. Seventy percent of business-to-business companies have made mobile E-mail access a priority, or plan to do so, in the next 12 months, as have 52% of business-to-consumer companies and 69% of companies that focus on both markets. This should be a win-win strategy. Companies benefit from employee input even when workers are on the road, and traveling employees won't face stacks of messages when they return to the office.

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Guarantees Required
Although mobile and wireless devices continue to be called the next IT frontier, some companies believe they're still too new a business tool to merit consideration. Three in four of businesses that cater to both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets say that's the main reason they're hesitating to commit to a wireless commerce strategy. The same reason is stopping 71% of companies that focus on the B-to-B markets--they have yet to deploy a wireless sales initiative. The same thing is happening at 55% of business-to-consumer companies that are still standing on the wireless sidelines.