Smaller Players Fuel European Computer Industry Growth.

Fueled by strong demand throughout the region for computer services and business applications software, the computer industry in Europe is surging ahead at a growth rate of 19.2%, according to the evolution EuroTech 100 Index. That figure contradicts popular perceptions that the US IT sector is growing much faster than the European industry.

The pacesetters in Europe, however, are not the largest companies. In the UK's computer services market, for example, hardware maintenance specialist 4Front Technologies Ltd showed revenues up 120% to $114.5m for the six months to April 30, 1999. But there was less of a windfall in evidence at France's services giant Cap Gemini SA - its revenues for the first half of the year grew only 16% to $2.2bn.

The same story of small scale success is being seen in the European software sector. The larger companies, such as SAP AG and Baan NV, actually dampened the overall growth rate, while many smaller companies helped push it higher. Iona Technologies Ltd, the Dublin-based object middleware vendor for example, grew 27% to $45.8m over the first half of the year, while UK supply chain management software vendor Kewill Systems Ltd grew 30% to $53.6m in the company's fiscal second half to 31 March 1999. There were some big negatives holding the growth rate back. UK- based Madge Networks Ltd, the token ring specialist turned managed network service supplier, saw revenues plunge 43% to $102.1m for the first half of the year.

The evolution EuroTech 100 Index measures the pace of revenue growth within the European IT sector. It is based on the period- on-period growth of the combined half-yearly revenues of 100 leading European technology companies (list available on request).