IT directors get geared-up for web services

NEWS IT directors across Europe are not being put off by the hype surrounding web services with many committing portions of their IT budget to the technology. Three-quarters of the IT chiefs surveyed by BEA Systems are convinced that by 2005, web services will be commonplace - even though influential analyst house the Butler Group said just last week that the web services dream is 10 years away. Sixty per cent of the IT directors who are looking seriously at the technology are already dedicating part of their 2002 budget to it. A third expect to see a return on their investment this year. Developers are set to play a strategic role in web services deployments. The IT directors surveyed value their advice, with 80 per cent saying they look to them for input on which systems to use. When it comes to making purchasing decisions, a highly influential factor is what everyone else in the industry is up to. IT directors - particularly in the UK and the Netherlands - make buying decisions based on their peers procurement decisions rather than the name on the box. In the UK and Holland, brand is considered to be the least important factor when making a purchasing decision. The survey polled 350 senior IT professionals in countries including France, Germany, Sweden and the UK.