3Com Study Finds That Majority of Small Irish Firms Are Networked but Not Gaining Revenue from Ecommerce.

High-Tech Writers

DUBLIN, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 13, 2003

3Com's fourth annual technology survey on the uptake of technology in small Irish firms shows a high-level of LAN penetration with the cost of networking well within reach of Irish SME firms.

At the same time, small organisations still need to be convinced of the value of ecommerce trading, as 77 percent of SMEs said that ecommerce accounts for less than 10 percent of their overall revenue streams. Furthermore, 78 percent of small Irish firms have no plans to trade online over the next 12 months.

While 91 percent of Irish SME firms are operating a Local Area Network, IT spend for 2002 remained modest with only 32 percent increasing their investment in 2002 and half of the survey respondents invested the same amount on IT in 2002 as in 2001.

These findings are reported in "Current & Projected Usage of Technology in Irish Commercial Organisations". This report was commissioned by networking company 3Com Ireland and conducted by independent research company, Direct Line Marketing. The annual 3Com survey is the most comprehensive published study of the Irish networking industry. The objective of the survey is to provide information on the use of IT in Irish industry. This report focuses on small organisations (50 employees or less) in Ireland with a similar survey launched earlier reporting on the uptake of technology among medium / large firms (51+ employees).

Ray O'Connor explains that small Irish firms have a healthy interest in newer technologies such as broadband and wireless products, as well as convergence of voice and data, which bodes well for the future of the technology industry in Ireland. He predicts this will soon translate into sales. "As businesses continue to understand the savings and extra benefits broadband access such as ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) can bring, penetration of new technologies will increase," he concluded.

The study highlights that 70 percent of small organisations realise the benefits of broadband technologies with 64 percent aware of the potential of converged voice and data networks. 57 percent believe that wireless technologies do give worthwhile benefits. O'Connor does highlight the improvement that's needed if the benefits of broadband are to be fully realised, "Although broadband is being offered to certain regions in Ireland, it needs to be available nationwide for users to reap the benefits and for Ireland to compete effectively with our European counterparts."

O'Connor adds, "Small firms seem to be beginning to take an interest in wireless technologies. The survey finds that although 65 percent are not currently capable of linking a laptop or PDA using a wireless connection, 22 percent say they are using wireless technology in their company, which is promising. Small firms are also aware of the principal reasons for installing a wireless LAN system with 37 percent saying they benefit from having employee hot-desking facilities and 26 percent realising that wireless LANs save on troublesome and excessive cabling."

3Com's Irish sales manager, Ray O'Connor explains, "Online shopping is also on the increase with 22 percent of respondents in small organisations using the Web to purchase or make online bookings. The main use of the Internet is as an information source with 30 percent of the sample using the Web for market research."

Email has become indispensable with 96 percent of small firms having email access. 31 percent rank communication with third parties as the most important use of email. On average 45 percent of small firms spend over one hour a day accessing or sending emails. However email is still ranked low as a marketing tool at 7 percent and though currently a 'hot' media topic, permission-based email or mobile text marketing does not seem to be catching on as quickly.

Survey Methodology

This report is based on a survey carried out by Direct Line Marketing Ltd. A sample population of 1,000 medium / large organisations & 1,500 small organisations were selected randomly. No criteria by industry was employed. This particular study relates to small organisations (50 or less employees). The target response for small firms was 250. Actual response was 257.

Data collection was carried out by three methods:

1). A postal version of the questionnaire was sent to each sample

point, together with a freepost return envelope.

2). Each sample point was offered the option of receiving an email

version of the questionnaire.

3). Telephone based interviewing was employed where no response

was received by either post or e-mail.

For copies of the survey contact Jennie Greene at 3Com Ireland

Tel [phone] or email: [e-mail]

About 3Com Corporation

3Com is a tier-one provider of innovative, practical and high-value networking products for enterprise customers. 3Com is also a leader in Internet protocol (IP) service platforms and access infrastructure for the network service provider market. For further information, please visit www.3com.com, or the press site www.3com.com/pressbox.

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