MARKETS & DATA - Surveyor: Lies, damn lies and statistics.

THE IT CROWD[QQ] Percentage of IT managers who believe their company has formal service level management in place to gauge the success of their technical components: 35%

Ditto business managers: 100%

Percentage of business managers who think they have service level agreements in place with internal and external suppliers: 96%

Ditto IT managers: 50%

Number of software jobs that will need to be filled in the UK in 2003: 330,000

Percentage of companies reporting difficulties recruiting skilled business and IT services staff: 56%

SOURCES: Mastek UK; ClarITeam/IDC

STILL THINKING ABOUT THE NET

Estimated reduction in calls for call centres if 70% of web-enabled people paid their bills via the internet: 20%

Percentage of senior managers in businesses with a #100m+ turnover who attribute a high level of importance to the potential of B2B commerce: 80%

Ditto who have an actionable strategy: 50%

Ditto who are at an early implementation stage: 19%

SOURCES: Ernst & Young/IDL Market Research

MACHINES ARE TAKING OVER

Percentage of managers who believe losing IT capacity would have a significant impact on their organisation: 82%

Ditto for whom fire would have a significant impact: 62%

Percentage of managers for whom the workplace had not become a better place over the past year: 42%

Ditto who say they are suffering from “information overload”: 54%

Ditto in 1997: 42%

Percentage of managers who believe colleagues use e-mail as a poor substitute for face-to-face communication: 66%

Percentage of managers who are prepared to be awarded with time rather than money: 69%

SOURCES: The Institute of Management; Roffeypark; Guardian IT Group

BANKING ON INTERNET GROWTH

Percentage of financial services companies with e-procurement strategy: 70%

Ditto for other sectors: 36%

Ditto who have launched an on-line brand or are planning to do so: 34%

Ditto who believe the greatest barrier to e-business development is a lack of understanding amongst customers and suppliers: 49%

SOURCES: Global CFO/NOP; CBI/PwC; TomorrowFirst

WHAT THE FUTURE HAS IN STORE

Percentage of retailers currently in active management of broadly defined career paths for shop-workers: 4%

Ditto predicted for 2005: 48%

Percentage of HR professionals who believe shop-workers’ jobs are challenging and varied: 20%

Ditto predicted for 2005: 58%

Percentage of HR professionals who say their organisation is inconsistent in the way it recognises effort and contribution from shop-workers: 73%

Percentage of retailers who say that judging the working environment for their store-workers is important: 23%

SOURCE: Hay Management Consultants.