Spending on e-business technologies will drop from an average of 3.5 percent of revenue in 2001 to 3.0 percent in 2002, according to a Forrester survey of nearly 900 IT and business decision-makers at Global 3,500 firms. Average 2002 e-business technology budgets are US$29 million, down from $41 million in 2001. The survey also shows that business executives expect a more significant drop in spending than their IT colleagues do.

Most companies will cut the number and types of technology products they'll consider buying in 2002, according to Senior Analyst Tom Pohlmann. Companies are much more risk-averse when considering new technologies than they were in 2001; they're opting to make do with what they have before buying more, he said.

Additional findings include the following:

• Of Global 3,500 firms, 61 percent will consider buying hardware, software infrastructure, or network bandwidth in 2002. Only 26 percent will consider purchasing enterprise applications -- such as CRM, ERP, procurement, or supply chain -- which is down from 58 percent last year.
• The number of firms considering buying technology consulting and implementation services fell 28 percent from last year, although demand remains healthy in insurance, finished goods manufacturing, and utilities.
• Of manufacturing firms, 65 percent are either considering or piloting enterprise application integration (EAI) -- the highest rate of any industry.
• One in five companies named a services division of a software company as one of their preferred service partners. IBM is the leading preferred consulting and implementation service provider.
• Compared with last year, technology buyers are more likely to give business units influence over technology strategy and direction.
• Midsize firms lead their Global 3,500 counterparts in rollouts of voice over IP and wireless LANs, while Canadian firms lead their U.S. counterparts in adoption of PDAs, supply chain software, and enterprise portal technologies.