Gartner: Europe to leap-frog U.S. in e-business

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By Joris Evers

(IDG) -- Less then a year ago, the skepticism of European businesses towards electronic business was much criticized. Now, with the dot-com crash in the U.S., Europeans will be able to benefit from their conservatism, according to market researcher Gartner Group Inc.

"Europe is not suffering from the U.S. dot-com hangover. U.S. companies have gone down the wrong road and need to back out. That will take them nine months to a year," said Alexander Drobik, vice president at Gartner EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) in an interview here at the Gartner Europe Spring Symposium/ITxpo 2001.

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European companies put a lot of thought into their electronic business strategies and learning about the Net, while their U.S. counterparts rushed to launch dot-coms, said Drobik.

"Over nine months ago, European businesses were looking how they could catch up with their U.S. counterparts and started putting plans in, but they have yet to push the button of no return," he said.

To stay on the right road companies should "rest their thoughts" and stay away from wild initiatives, Drobik said. By linking their business strategy with the Net and leveraging both physical and digital assets, European companies can move ahead of the U.S. competition.

"Companies mustn't lose time, but they must go back to the gut instinct. Don't just do things because you don't know what else to do. Don't just launch a dot-com. Look at your business processes, look at your business model and look at your partners. Then find out how you can make an improvement at all business levels," he said.

Gartner's Europe Spring Symposium/ITxpo 2001, in Florence, Italy, runs through Friday.

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Forty percent of Europeans have Internet access
(InfoWorld.com)
Microsoft details enterprise project for U.K. government
(InfoWorld.com)
EU reveals plans for e-commerce in financial services
(IDG.net)
Europe can learn from U.S. dot-com failures
(IDG.net)
Bush team opposes proposed Euro privacy rules
(The Industry Standard)
U.S. firms face uncertainty over European privacy rules
(Computerworld)
U.S. privacy rules concerns are baseless
(InfoWorld.com)
Privacy headaches linger
(IDG.net)

Gartner Group

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