Posted December 19, 2001 Manufacturing News AMR Research Survey Reveals IT Budget Growth For Retailers Will Remain Flat Next Year The AMR Research Retail Market Trends Report was devised from a series of three surveys in the Retail industry - retail spending in 2000, e-business initiatives, and the packaged software applications markets. The report for 2001-2003 reveals retailers' total IT budgets allocated as follows: application spending (15%), software technology (11%), hardware (28%), headcount (17 %), networking (14%), and services (15%). Economic conditions are driving retail companies to plan for more conservative IT spending, with an overall budget increase of only one percent projected in the coming year. Retailers are moving towards packaged software applications that reduce expenses, increase operational efficiencies, and maximize revenue from existing customers. Survey results reveal that Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) dominates spending with total retail application budgets at 32 percent. Budget allocations remain strong for SCM and CRM applications-22 percent and 16 percent, respectively. Databases, network management, and security remain among the top three technology investment areas for 2002 and will drive the Retail Applications market over the next several years. The Manufacturing Report © Copyright 2001 by Lionheart Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. E-mail Editorial Dept: tmr-editorial@lionhrtpub.com Lionheart Publishing, Inc. 2555 Cumberland Parkway, Suite 299, Atlanta, GA 30339 USA Phone: 770-431-0867 | Fax: 770-432-6969 E-mail: lpi@lionhrtpub.com