Retailers lead in information technology.

The retail sector appears to be the best at exploiting information technology (IT), according to the findings of an IT impact survey. Top managers and directors from 100 large British firms were surveyed for the research, which focused on the impact of IT on large organizations.

The survey, carried out by IT company Information Builders, found that the retail sector seems to be furthest ahead in crafting and implementing an IT infrastructure that meets its business needs. Large retailers report fewer problems with integration--getting different computer systems such as billing and logistics to work with each other--than other sectors.

Internet for home shopping

The retail sector also anticipates less of a need to invest in restructuring its IT than other sectors, which appear to be experiencing more trouble in establishing an IT set-up that meets their needs.

The use of the Internet for "home shopping", which some analysts see as having a potentially important impact on the retail sector, may be held back by what the survey reports as a lack of in-house skills. Around a third of respondents across all sectors reported that lack of technical skills was holding back Internet and Intranet (company-wide networks that use Internet technology) developments.

"Some sectors struggle to get IT to work for them. Our survey suggests the retail sector is ahead of the pack in several areas", commented Pamela Pipe, marketing development manager of Information Builders.

Main findings of research

The main findings of the research are:

* 35 per cent of companies sampled still see the need for greater efficiency as one of their two top business issued currently being faced, while profits pressure is also very high on the agenda for almost one-third of companies,

* 86 per cent of companies feel that efficiently using business information is a key pressure within the business, driving the need for integrated business processes in the majority of these companies,

* 28 per cent of companies feel that improving the quality of the business information is one of their top two IT priorities, but this will be carried out through better integration, as 41 per cent of companies accept that integration is one of their major objectives,

* 84 per cent of companies agree that a major benefit from IT investments is easier access to information, while 81 per cent feel that information is now flowing better across the business as a direct result of IT investments,

* 96 per cent of companies feel that IT is a critical process and 86 per cent want to use IT to build better communications with their marketplace,

* only 17 per cent feel that the cost of IT is an inhibitor to further investment, reaffirming the finding that IT is truly offering great benefit,

* 35 of companies have at least a reasonably advanced Internet, although 44 per cent feel that the technologies are difficult to manage, and

* integration is top of the shop in terms of investment areas for the coming two years, with 68 per cent of companies focusing on this area compared to 61 per cent for application software replacement.