Online buyers want payment options

Half of online shoppers will cancel a purchase if their preferred method of payment is not available. A survey by online payment firm ClickandBuy of 2,000 British adults found that online merchants are losing business by not offering a sufficiently wide choice of internet payment methods. Some 40 percent of those questioned said they would feel more comfortable purchasing from a retailer who offers a wide range of payment methods rather than just one option. Meanwhile, the financial security risks associated with eCommerce continue to be a concern. A massive 84 percent of respondents believe that the number of people trying to commit fraud on the internet is increasing. Only 41 percent of regular online shoppers are totally confident that their credit card details are secure when entered online. Read the press release on Investegate.co.uk.

IT centralisation set for growth

Centralisation will be the largest growth area for the IT industry this year, according to a survey conducted by Citrix Systems. Centralisation is where a company organises and controls all its IT processes from one location. The IT services company surveyed a number of its Irish channel partners who cited centralisation, server virtualisation and application virtualisation as the top three IT growth areas for 2009. Virtualisation is the process whereby physical elements of IT infrastructure - such as servers - are replaced with virtual equivalents. Citrix also reported that over half of companies surveyed believe virtualisation is considered only by early adopters and that more needs to be done to educate CEOs and CIOs about its benefits. For more on this story see ENN.ie. (For more on virtualisation see Issue 229.)

Downturn provides investment opportunity

Two-thirds of British organisations view the economic downturn as an opportunity to invest in new IT projects. That's according to a study by consultancy Centralis, which revealed that 69 percent of respondents said IT spending within their organisations will grow or remain stable during the rest of 2009 and into next year. The introduction of flexible working practices is also popular, with nearly one-third of companies saying they will use technology to support such policies within the next year. Flexible working provides "a secure way for staff to work offsite and [reduce] costs in tough economic times by enabling initiatives such as shared services and branch office consolidation," said Ewen Anderson, managing director of Centralis. Virtualisation was cited as another growth area. For more on this story see VNUnet.com.

Software-as-a-service continues to thrive

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is set to flourish, according to research house Gartner, which predicts 22 percent growth this year. Office software suites and digital content creation tools are the fastest-growing SaaS areas, according to a Gartner report, and the content, communications and collaboration tools markets will also continue to thrive. The main motivations for SaaS adoption by companies are ease of deployment, rapid return on investment, low up-front investment costs and a "decreased reliance on limited implementation resources", according to Sharon Mertz, research director at Gartner. "Many enterprises are further encouraged by the fact that, with SaaS, responsibility for continuous operation, back-ups, updates and infrastructure maintenance shifts risk and resource requirements from internal IT to vendors or service providers." However, Mertz warned that questions persist over data security, scalability and vendor longevity. For more on this visit VNUnet.com.

Here are some of the issues our forum members have been discussing in the last fortnight:

• SMS functionality on websites view thread
• Broadcasting Bill 2009 - an internet tax? view thread
• Paying for SEO/SEM services view thread

Work away (part one): Staying in touch overseas

Website focus: Press room

Case study: Sweeney Oil

Avoid spam filters

Radisson Hotel, Golden Lane, Dublin, June 9-11
Times are tough. Now, more than ever, you need to deliver maximum value at minimum costs. Your online channel can help. This three-day conference, run by internet consultancy iQ Content, aims to help attendees learn skills to increase website visitor numbers, cut costs and grow revenues. Topics covered include web strategy, online content, user experience and design, and online marketing. The event is aimed at CEOs, senior managers, marketing managers, web editors, developers, and webmasters. Find out more and book online at www.iqcontent.com/bootcamp or call (01) 677 1140.

This handy site allows you to record the activity on your PC screen - making it an ideal tool if you need to make a demo or tutorial for a colleague or for your website or blog. As well as recording the images on screen, you can add voice to go with the pictures. Several websites provide this service, but ScreenToaster offers it as an online application, so there's no need to download and install any files. Everything takes place online, so the app functions equally well on Linux, PCs or Macs.