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| Gartner Says Only 20 Percent of E-Services Providers Will Survive to 2004 |
| The future of e-services to be discussed at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo Canada |
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TORONTO and STAMFORD, CONN., August 13, 2001 — According to a study by Gartner, Inc. (IT and ITB), only 20 percent of e-services providers will survive industry consolidation by 2004. Enterprises implementing e-services should be wary of vendors that may fall prey to mergers, acquisitions and outright business failure.
One of the chief contributors to market consolidation is that less than 45 percent of vendors offer solutions that provide three or more critical e-services components. Even those vendors often lack integration between the critical components. The study notes that by 2004, the surviving 20 percent of e-services vendors from the 2001 market will have acquired or implemented new components, enabling them to provide a complete and integrated solution. A related Gartner study points out that only 15 percent of e-services implementations will successfully balance enterprise and customer needs by 2003. Today's e-business suites will be outdated and ready for replacement within the next two to three years, thereby affecting return on investment and total cost of ownership. IT operations that fail to implement e-services properly will experience a rise in total cost of ownership because of underutilization of new systems and excessive maintenance costs for existing systems. "Implementing e-services is a central strategic imperative for IT," according to Estaban Kolsky, senior research analyst for Gartner. "This is one undertaking in which one cannot overplan implementation, nor overexamine the future of each e-services vendor." Gartner defines "e-service" as including the processes, policies, procedures, people, tools and technologies that enable enterprises to provide assisted and unassisted customer service using the Internet as a platform. The primary components in an e-service implementation could include e-mail response management, interactive chat, FAQ capability, Voice over IP, collaborative tools and self-help or self-service. About Gartner Gartner, Inc. is a research and advisory firm that helps more than 10,000 clients understand technology and drive business growth. Gartner's divisions are Gartner Research, Gartner Consulting, Gartner Measurement and Gartner Events. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and has 4,600 associates, including 1,400 research analysts and consultants, in more than 80 locations worldwide. The Company achieved fiscal 2000 revenue of $859 million. For more information, visit www.gartner.com. About Gartner Symposium/ITxpo Canada Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2001 Canada will be held September 5-7 in Toronto at the Toronto Sheraton Centre. This event will be the Canadian IT industry's largest and most strategic conference, delivering practical, actionable IT information and strategy advice to business leaders. To register for Gartner's Symposium/ITxpo 2001 Canada, please call 1-800-778-1997 or 203-316-6757, or go to www.gartner.com/symposium/canada. Members of the press may contact Lisette Kwong at 212-320-2230 to register for the Symposium or to request an interview with a Gartner analyst. |
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Contact: Cindy Morgan-Olson Vice President TSI Communications 212-320-2230 colson@tsicomm.com |
