Opportunities in IT consulting, systems integration, outsourcing, and IT training, both current and through 2006, vary substantially by vertical market, according to IDC. Through 2006, total enterprise spending on consulting services will actually drop by 0.6%. Systems-integration services spending won't rebound until 2004, and even by 2006, spending levels will be nearly 2% lower than the benchmark 2001 figures. Outsourcing, both in IT and business processes, will continue to post growth through 2006. By then, spending on outsourcing will be more than $41 billion, an increase of more than 7% over 2001. (IDC, 1/29/2003.)

META Group says that data communications spending among European multinationals is set to increase by 15% annually, against price reductions from carriers of only 5%-10%. Highest growth is expected from network-based virtual private networks (predominantly established with MultiProtocol Label Switching MPLS), set to expand at a compound annual rate of 30%, from 1.5B in 2002 to 6.9B by 2007. This compares to the frame relay market, which will grow by only 7%, from 4.7B to 7.2B in the same period. The report values the total European data communications market at approximately 28.89B, of which the European Union (EU) countries constitute 90%. The EU market (26B) is expected to have a 2.5% compound annual growth rate, resulting in a 30B market in 2007. (META Group, 11/20/2002.)

According to Infonetics research, the total size of VPN market worldwide in 2001 was $ 1.3 billion. They project that VPN hardware revenue will reach $2.9 billion in 2002 and $3.6 billion in 2003. (Encore Networks, 9/2002.)

AMR Research's latest CRM Application Spending Report, 2002--2004, reveals that 43% of companies are using CRM applications. Of the 57% of firms that are not using CRM, roughly one-third plan to implement the software within the next year. On average, companies allocate 19 percent of their application budgets to CRM. Users are focused on incremental investments to improve efficiencies and cost savings without sacrificing customer satisfaction. AMR Research predicts that as companies realize success from these tactical investments, they will expand their CRM initiatives. (AMR, 9/2002.)

"As of the second quarter of 2002, over one million U.S. SMBs were using one or more business process automation applications Sales Force Automation, CRM, ERP or Supply Chain Management - that figure represents a 114 percent increase over the 489,000 SMBs that were using the apps during the same period in 2001." (Access Markets International Partners, from Captaris, 9/2002.)

More than 40% of people in the U.S. workforce are taking fewer trips. More than 70% are interested in alternatives to travel. 63 percent rate access to collaboration technology as very important, as opposed to 44 percent prior to Sept. 11. Post Sept. 11 in-person meetings decreased 16.3%, to account for 45.4% of meetings. Before 9/11 in-person meetings accounted for 54.2% of meetings. Web conferencing usage increased 61.5%. Video conferencing usage grew 24.5%. Voice conferencing usage grew 11.7%. The number of respondents that believed access to voice, web, and video conferencing was very important to them personally increased from 44.3% before Sept. 11 to 63.9% after Sept. 11. Most respondents believed that conferencing technologies would allow them to get more work done (78%), make faster decisions (66%), and be more competitive (64%). (Wainhouse Research, 9/2002.)

Ethernet technologies are beginning to usurp applications in the professional video arena that had previously been the exclusive province of specialized, or proprietary, networks. Researchers at In-Stat/MDR posit that many users of video conferencing equipment are in the process of converting their existing ISDN infrastructure over to IP infrastructure, resulting in an uptake of IP-based services. This will cause a slowdown in the use of legacy ISDN services through 2006. The market research firm projects that ISDN-oriented video conferencing services revenues will experience a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of only 6% while IP services will grow at about a 43.5% CAGR, topping $2.5 billion in 2006. (In-Stat, 9/2002.)

In-Stat/MDR also found that as the migration to IP progresses, the typical hourly rate for video conferencing calls will gradually drop from an average of about $45/hour in 2001, down to about $35 per hour by 2006. (In-Stat, 9/2002.)

A survey of companies with at least $500 million in revenue indicates that further cuts this year are unlikely for the majority of respondents. And of those execs saying their budgets will change, more predict spending will increase by 10% than fall by 10%. According to Forrester's semiannual Business Technographics North America Benchmark Study of 1,001 senior business and technology managers, IT spending will have increased 2.3% during 2002 compared with 2001 totals. Fully 63% of those surveyed say their budgets will survive the second half of the year. And of those who foresee change, 37% expect budget increases of 10% or more. Twelve percent expecting a change think their budgets will be cut by at least 10%. Most of the execs studied--55%--say their C-level comrades are less risk-averse when it comes to tech investment. Only 36% felt that way when Forrester asked the same question in February. (Forrester Research, 8/2002.)

Wireline service provider capital expenditure in North America will decline from $77 billion in 2001 to $46-51 billion in 2002, according to RHK. Spending will be flat through 2003 as service providers continue to trim capex in an attempt to return to positive cash flow. Service provider capex is expected to experience its first pulse of growth in 2004. "All indicators point towards service providers returning to health in late 2003, but still no noticeable increase in overall capex until 2004. While traffic growth remains strong, average long-haul trunk capacity utilization is just 35% and service providers have found numerous means to extract additional capacity from existing networks. IP traffic is forecasted to growth 100% in 2002. This tells us service providers have little immediate need to spend much on new network infrastructure." (RHK, 4/2002.)

Global retail CRM spending in 2002 will stay essentially level compared to 2001 at $6.7 billion, with no significant expansion expected until 2004. Corporate CRM spending, influenced mostly by commercial banks, will remain at $3.0 billion in 2002, and is also not expected to grow significantly until 2004, as many institutions examine their ROI from less-than-successful CRM investments. Meridien's global spending estimate, based on 55,000 institutions, covers external IT spending for hardware, software, and related development, consulting, and implementation services for all financial industry segments. (Meridien, 1/2002.)

Broadband Internet service in the U.S. had 2.8 million subscriptions in 2000, and this figure is expected to jump to 40 million by 2005. (Forrester Research, 1/2002.)