MARKET RESEARCH.

'Internet Everywhere' In The Home Will Spur Residential Gateway Market Explosion

Bringing Internet connectivity throughout the household will push the emerging market for residential gateway (RG) hardware to $4.7 billion worldwide by 2005, according to a new report from Oyster Bay, N.Y.- based Allied Business Intelligence. The rollout of broadband and home networking solutions will "converge to produce this significant new category of products," according to findings in ABI's new Residential Gateways: Enabling Services Into The Home study.

The RG is an intelligent hardware device connecting home devices and appliances to the Internet. It may also incorporate the network access interface. In many cases such devices will be primarily marketed as access devices with integrated home networking functionality. These all-in-one boxes will allow service providers, the initial target market, to deliver multiple services by deploying a single box on the customer premises.

"The rollout of broadband access devices will allow service providers to deliver integrated services such as data, video and voice to the home," says report author and ABI Senior Analyst Navin Sabharwal. By 2005, he estimates there will be over 23 million residential broadband subscribers in North America. North America is expected to the leading market for RG deployment because of higher multiple PC penetration into the home and greater penetration of non-PC Internet appliances. This market will account for a 59 percent annual increase in units shipped from 2002 to 2005.

A number of broadband OEM companies are partnering with home networking technology ingredient vendors to provide an integrated broadband delivery RG and some have founded the Open Services Gateway Initiative (OSGi) to specify standards for delivery of services for the gateways. In other regions, utility-centric service gateways will be deployed aggressively. Europe, for example, will realize a 64 percent increase annually in these shipments from 2002 to 2005. In these markets, RGs will be driven by deregulated utilities seeking to provision automated meter reading (AMR), security monitoring, and remote appliance management.

Survey Finds 90 Percent Of Online Job Applications Ignored

Over 90 percent of resumes and applications submitted online never get acknowledged or replied to, according to a new survey by myjobsearch.com. In a survey of 405 jobseekers conducted on Nov. 23, 82 percent of respondents said nine out of ten employers never responded to their online resume submissions. In a related survey, 74 percent of users felt the proper response time for an employer should be less than one week. "I've applied to almost 1,000 positions and have never received an interview," said one myjobsearch.com user.

"The online application process promises convenience, but fails to deliver," says Heather Stone, president of myjobsearch.com. "Online resumes outnumber job postings by a factor of five to one. Employers are overrun with the responses they get. Jobseekers need to explore other ways to use Internet technology to find jobs, such as networking with potential employers at chats and other online events."

The survey finds jobseekers getting smarter in seeking employment over the Internet. For example, 63 percent of users say they now prefer to look for jobs at specialty web sites instead of major online job sites. "Specialty sites are communities of professionals in a given job or industry," explains Stone. "For example, a site like foodservice.com serves both employers and jobseekers in the food service industry. For professionals in any industry, specialty job boards provide for a more efficient online job search."

Employers are re-evaluating their recruiting practices, too. According to a survey released last week from Development Dimensions International, more than 76 percent of employers use the Internet to recruit. Of the companies they surveyed, 68 percent said they would spend more on improving practices that will result in better candidates and more efficient hiring processes. Nearly half will upgrade systems to handle computerized resume screening.

US Change Management Market Expected To Double From 1999 To 2003

It seems the only thing constant at US organizations these days is change. The dynamic nature of the workplace is sparking a burst of activity for providers that offer change management services. International Data Corp. (IDC) estimates the US change management market alone will exceed $3 billion in 1999, and by 2003 it will more than double.

"Today, there is a realization that change cannot be ignored because it's a constant feature of corporate life. Change pervades every fiber of an organization: its people, its operations and processes, its structure and systems -- its very culture. Whenever a new factor is introduced into an organization, it can cause fundamental change," explains Marianne Hedin, manager for IDC's Consulting Services research program. "The acceptance of change as a constant feature of corporate life has led to a realization that change management is necessary, if not mandatory."

According to a new IDC report, to compete successfully in the change management services market, consulting firms must have the capabilities to address the complexity and wide range of change issues that corporations are encountering. "The new ebusiness environment requires consulting firms to offer both a depth and breadth of change management services, tackling strategic as well as tactical change issues," Hedin says. "Change management is more than just training, reformulation of policies and procedures, and job performance; increasingly it's about new organizational design, culture, and leadership effectiveness."

The IDC study shows Bain & Co. and Delta Consulting best positioned to gain market share in the change management services market, while Andersen Consulting is best aligned with customer needs. For more information on the report, Change Management: An Analysis of Market Trends, Growth, and the Competitive Landscape, visit www.idc.com.