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3Com says Irish IT budgets are growing
Monday, September 02 2002
by Matthew Clark


More evidence of a growth in IT spending in Ireland has come to the fore, with
3Com claiming that most large firms have not decreased 2002 IT budgets. 

According to the latest figures from independent research company Direct Line
Marketing and networking equipment maker 3Com, nearly half of medium to large
organisations (firms with 51 or more workers) in Ireland plan to spend as much on
IT this year as they did in 2001. 



A further 37 percent say they are planning to increase their IT investment this
year, the new report claimed. 





This year's survey, the fourth incarnation of the 3Com-sponsored report, covers
IT decision-makers in 166 medium-to-large firms in Ireland. One of the most
notable points in this year's survey showed that corporate on-line buying is
becoming popular, with 21 percent of large companies using the Net to purchase
airline tickets, books and other business materials. 





"Fourteen percent of companies spend their time on the Internet researching
competitors, and nearly half of large enterprises (43 percent) are engaging in
e-commerce and see it as a means of increasing revenue streams," noted Ray
O'Connor, sales manager for 3Com Ireland. He pointed out however that over half
(57 percent) of large companies here are not currently trading on-line. The
report also said that 74 percent of these businesses say they do not have plans
to introduce e-commerce over the next 12 months.





Sixty-three percent of companies surveyed ranked the Internet as a key source of
industry information, compared to just 49 percent a year ago. "This finding
resonates well with another point reported in the survey which says that over 87
percent of Irish companies now have a Web site and 62 percent of large Irish
companies now offer free Internet access to their workforce," said O'Connor.



Business publications were important to 65 percent of respondents and industry
publications were important to around 66 percent of companies. 



Finally, the survey said that teleworking was becoming a more prominent feature
in Ireland's companies, with 25 percent of businesses offering at least one type
of teleworking scheme. One quarter of those companies are introducing these plans
to retain employees while 23 percent felt that employees are more productive
working from home. 



The main barrier to teleworking is poor telecommunications or broadband access
with 35 percent of large companies seeing it as an obstacle.