Companies take it slow with B2B

Companies are backtracking on business-to-business initiatives after a year of dotcom disasters.

Companies are backtracking on business-to-business (B2B) initiatives after a year of dotcom disasters.

Hyped constantly last year, B2B is no longer the darling of the internet: interest in B2B investment fell by 42 per cent in the last six months, according to research by investment bank Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (MSDW).

The report also reveals that the number of companies not wanting a B2B capability has more than doubled to 32 per cent.

"Companies have gone back on their original decisions about investing in B2B," said the MSDW report, which surveyed 400 European companies.

"There is now a clearer understanding of what B2B means than at the beginning of 2000," said Andy Kyte, a research director at analyst Gartner.

"Those who rushed in before they were ready had unrealistic expectations of the return on investment, and are now older, wiser and better able to develop plans for 2001," he added.

"Those who stayed on the sidelines initially are adopting a longer-term perspective. People no longer believe that if you don't do ebusiness today, it'll be too late tomorrow."

This more cautious attitude to ebusiness will mean a slower approach to integrating systems, according to a report by analyst Ovum Holway.

Despite the slowdown, the ebusiness services sector is still expected to thrive - by 2004 it will be worth £11.8bn, compared with £3.7bn last year, said the report.

Additional reporting by Andy McCue