The reality of the web

In the days of the dot com bubble, there was an abundance of VCs telling potential entrepreneurs that they needed to spend large amounts of money if they wanted to suceed. They kept inflating things until the inevitable burst happened. Many of the businesses that did survive were those that had ignored the VCs and stuck to good old fashioned business plans.

While this new technology proved itself up to the task, many business people became wary of the internet and the associated hype. Cynicism almost became fashionable.

To get beyond both the hype and the cynicism, it is worth looking at a recent report by the Office for National Statistics. The report has found that for every 10% of employees in manufacturing who are IT enabled, productivity jumped by 2.1%.

Interestingly, it also found that for every 10% of employees in manufacturing who have net access, productivity jumped by 2.9%.

Another survey by Netcraft showed that the web grew by more that 17 million sites, exceeding the 16 million sites last seen at the height of the boom.

While it is easy to follow the post-dot com fashion for cynicism, the reality is that the internet is growing and those companies that are using the technology wisely are benefitting.