Despite this, companies in the region will continue to implement B2B solutions, but they will strategise their e-business needs more carefully before investing in such technology.
Research firm International Data Corp (IDC) Asia Pacific made this observation based on findings from its report on Corporate B2B Adoption Trends in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) 2001.
"Our survey indicates that B2B and e-marketplace adoption in the coming years will be driven by real corporate needs, as opposed to the 'gold rush' mentality which preceded the rise and fall of the dot-com era," noted Richard Jacobson, IDC Asia Pacific research manager (B2B Internet research) in a statement today.
"Companies are going to evaluate B2B and e-marketplace technology as part of their overall business and operational plans. Corporations are actually going to implement e-business strategies, instead of just throwing in a bunch of applications and hoping for the best," he added.
Businesses are finding B2B adoption increasingly invaluable, and are looking to invest in B2B solutions to help them reduce the overall administration cost of doing business, Jacobson observed during a telephone interview.
The analyst pointed out that the B2B report was based on an analysis of IDC's eWorld survey conducted globally earlier this year. In Asia Pacific, the survey was carried out in Australia, South Korea and China.
Of the corporations surveyed in the three countries, 33.8 percent have already implemented online customer services capabilities on their corporate Web sites, IDC observed in the statement.
IDC also noted that the proportion of IT budgets dedicated to Web-based initiatives was rising across all industries in the region.
For instance, Jacobson said 16.2 percent of IT budget in the manufacturing sector was dedicated to Web initiatives this year, compared with 8.1 percent last year. Similarly, the healthcare, education and government sectors set aside about 31.5 percent of their total IT budget in 2001 to Web initiatives, compared with 23.7 percent last year.
"This trend reinforces the fact that e-business initiatives are becoming ingrained in the overall fabric of corporate culture," IDC said. "When viewed against a backdrop of economic uncertainty and slowing IT growth, IDC believes that B2B budgets are more resilient than other IT spending categories."
The research firm noted that despite the expected increase in B2B adoption, there are a number of factors that are important to companies when evaluating their investment directions.
These include selection criteria when choosing B2B vendors, choice of distribution channels for purchasing IT products and services, characteristics of e-commerce Web sites and the obstacles faced by companies implementing e-commerce initiatives.
Among the obstacles, the number one difficulty faced by IT managers when implementing e-commerce initiatives was working out how to justify and calculate the return on investment associated with e-commerce implementation.
"The key to success for B2B technology vendors in Asia is to examine how these factors impact purchasing decisions of corporations, and to understand the differences between companies in different vertical and business-size segments," said Jacobson.
While the world anxiously awaits economic recovery, IDC is advising B2B vendors to plan, reorganise and refocus their products and services, as well as evaluate go-to-market strategies around the expected rebound.
