|
August 22, 2006
Study: IT investments to focus on CRM, B2B, B2C
(BNamericas.com Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Sixty-two percent of Costa Rican companies and 41% of foreign firms operating in the country plan to increase their investments in IT over the next five years, particularly in CRM, B2B and B2C applications, according to a new study from global economics research firm Incae.
According to the report, national and foreign companies believe their IT investments in the supply chain technologies segment will concentrate mainly on proven solutions that have already been implemented in more developed countries.
Incae, with the support of US IT firm Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), interviewed CEOs and CTOs at 50 firms with operations in Costa Rica and found that 84% of them believe IT has contributed to improvements in internal communications while 51% said it was a key factor in improving their relationships with providers.
HP sponsored the study as a way to learn more about companies in Costa Rica, a country where the firm has significantly increased its investments in infrastructure and human resources and is considered its hub for Central America.
According to the report, 96% of all companies interviewed use IT to administrate their supply chain, 67% of all respondents said IT has helped them improve the control over their operations and 54% said they have seen important savings in costs due to the use of IT.
Seventy-one percent of executives interviewed mentioned bureaucracy and regulations as the biggest factor causing inefficiencies and delays for their supply chain processes.
Inadequate public communications infrastructure was also mentioned as a problem for supply chain management as well as for a larger implementation of other technologies.
"All things considered, there is optimism about these limits becoming less important [in the next five years]. Infrastructure will continue being the most important limitation while other areas with limitations such as the IT offering and human resource are expected to improve and become less of a barrier for IT adoption," Incae analyst Arturo Condo said during the presentation of the study.
"In order for the country to reach an optimum level, executives said it is important to bring about changes in education, liberalizing the telecommunications market, improving infrastructure and orienting new regulations accordingly to the market's needs," Condo added.
Copyright 2006 BNamericas.com
(source: http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-study-it-investments-focus-crm-b2b-b2c-/2006/08/22/1823288.htm)
|
|
TMCnet LOGIN
Webinars
