Partners, integration, Linux - or 200 million new IT workers
Without advances in technology to cope with increasingly complex systems, the IT industry will need 200 million new workers, according to the European vice president of IBM"s software group.
Speaking at the IBM Software Symposium in Munich, Tom Francese said: "The pace of change with businesses out on the net, and increasing numbers of businesses connected without some new management, would mean 200 million more IT workers."
Francese explained that 10 billion emails are sent every day, due to rise to 35 billion by 2006, while 30 per cent of employee time is spent just looking for information to do their jobs.
He said that business-to-business e-commerce is now firmly in place, and that a borderless marketplace valued at $1 trillion could become a reality by the end of the decade.