Business set to re-boot the internet revolution

A study says British companies will catch a second wave of e-business in the next few years.

The CBI and KPMG Consulting survey dispels the notions that the internet revolution has stopped.

All businesses are expected to step up their e-business activity despite the downfall of many dot.com entrepreneurs.

According to the report, entitled The Quiet Revolution, 76% of the 1,000 companies interviewed currently generate less than 5% of their turnover from e-business.

This trend is set to change with 58% expecting to derive at least 10% of their revenue directly from e-business within the next two to three years.

The report also shows that 93% of UK companies have already addressed e-business in their corporate strategy in some way while 99% expect it to have some impact within a couple of years.

The survey identifies three distinct groups of companies - e-pioneers (21%), e-followers (43%) and e-laggards (36%).

E-pioneers can be found in all industry sectors but the frontrunners are in telecoms/utilities and retail (47%), financial services (31%) and professional services and transportation (20%).

Chief executive officer of KPMG Consulting, Alan Buckle, said: "The first wave of e-business is emphatically over but the rags-to-riches-to-rags stories of the dot.com entrepreneurs that have dominated the headlines have disguised what has really been going on.

"A quiet revolution has begun inside British businesses - imaginative companies in all areas of the economy have been embracing Internet technology."