By the Numbers: June 2003



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Open-Source Knowledge: Stuck in Neutral?
A survey of software developers in North America found that 56% are using at least some open-source code in their applications today, according to Evans Data of Santa Cruz, Calif. That’s up 18 percentage points from 2001, but only slightly higher than last year. When the 44% of developers not using open source were asked for a reason, a little more than a quarter said they were not familiar with the technology or lacked knowledge about what open-source code is available.

No-Contest Network War
Rivals are not keeping pace with Cisco Systems in network gear, according to Merrill Lynch’s recent CIO Survey on technology spending. Avaya, Nortel and Dell are seeing steady growth, but they are losing market share faster than Cisco. The real falloff is for 3Com, which recently announced a joint venture with Hauwei, the “Cisco of China.” 3Com’s reputation has apparently tarnished to the point that 34% of companies want to get rid of its equipment—despite the fact that only 30% say they use it.

Merger Missteps
If you’ve experienced a merger or acquisition lately, chances are you see M&As as more troublesome than those who haven’t. That pessimism may serve you well, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers partner Brian Levy, who says M&A success depends heavily on first understanding the issues involved.

Offshore Offset
In the next year, 35% of u.S. Firms will be sending some technology work offshore, says an amr research survey. That growth will represent only 1% of the 2.5 million tech jobs out there, says amr—a loss that expected growth in tech budgets will surely mitigate. Perhaps it isn’t candy from a baby if it didn’t belong to the baby in the first place.

Password Insecurity
A recent survey of 200 managers found that 86% of employees have to remember two or more passwords each day. That might explain the 80% of employees who write their passwords on the back of a business card.