Selling-over-the-Web problem to snatch Y2K bug’s crown

Even after the year 2000 date change has come and gone, IT users will not be safe. The next IT bogey-man will be, of all things, ecommerce, according to a survey carried out by Boole & Babbage. The management solutions company surveyed 75 IT managers in November 1998 and found that ecommerce was one of the most stressful aspects of the IT managers working day. Some 46 per cent of respondents said that it was their biggest worry - flesh-eating millennium bug excepted. Issues such as bandwidth, workflow systems and legacy integration were all cited as being part of the problem. Managing director of Boole & Babbage, Charles Southwood, said: "The millennium bug has been the biggest issue in recent years. However, ecommerce poses specific challenges and strains on the IT department." A further 38 per cent of those surveyed believed that monitoring and analysing systems would cause them the most concern in the next millennium. Costs, skills availability and knowledge management barely registered as concerns voiced by those surveyed. ®