Australia Needs a More Professional Approach to E-Commerce
Thursday 17 February 2000 - The Australian Computer Society (ACS) has highlighted the importance of professional skills and methodologies for organisations wanting to successfully move their business online.
ACS President, John Ridge, has told a gathering of senior IT executives meeting in Sydney today that while e-commerce offers tremendous benefits, it must be treated with respect since the potential for failure is equally high.
"Success in e-commerce can reap tremendous rewards because operating online gives you access to a worldwide audience. However, if you make a wrong move, choose your technology poorly, or fail to apply appropriate levels of quality control, that same global audience will witness your failure."
In his Opening Remarks as Chair of the final day of the CIO 2000 Executive Forum, Mr Ridge called for a more professional approach to e-commerce.
"Because e-commerce is such a new and revolutionary area, a large proportion of people operating in this area are self-taught and often lack the discipline and methodologies applied by qualified professionals," said Mr Ridge.
He pointed to the example of a major financial institution which spent six months building a state-of-the-art e-commerce Web site, focusing all their attention on design and application integration, before they applied any stress testing procedures.
"Unfortunately, as soon as they began testing the new system, it became clear there were significant performance issues. In fact the Web site failed as soon as more than 30 hits were recorded and the organisation was ultimately forced to write off its six month investment and start again with different technology," he said.
"These sorts of stories are becoming more common and I believe the current skills shortage is exacerbating the problem, because the rush to embrace e-commerce means some companies are having to risk doing so with people who have only limited training and expertise."
Mr Ridge called for the Federal Government to allocate additional funding for IT university places for Australian students, pointing out that most of the increases in tertiary places during the 1990s went to full fee paying overseas students.
"While we welcome these students and acknowledge their financial contribution, we don't believe Australian students should miss out on an IT education in favour of overseas students," he said.
"Certainly the Government's move last year to grant permanent residence to overseas students who complete an Australian university degree is a positive one for the IT industry since many are now likely to stay here and work.
"However, this will also add to the attraction of studying in Australia, so there is an even greater chance that local students will miss out on places unless the Government increases funding for IT education," said Mr Ridge.
This media release is available on the ACS Web site at http://www.acs.org.au/news/cio2000.htm
ENDS
The Australian Computer Society is the recognised association for information
technology (IT) professionals, attracting a large and active membership from
all levels of the IT industry and providing a wide range of services to its
members. It is the public voice of the IT profession, the guardian of professional
ethics and standards in the IT industry, with a commitment to the wider community
to ensure the beneficial use of IT. See the ACS
Home Page for more information.
Media Enquiries:
John Ridge, ACS President, Tel: (02) 9223 9499 or (0407) 913 992, Email: jridge@mra.com.au
Caroline New, Caroline New PR, Tel: (02) 9980 8060 or (0411) 889 456, Email: cnew@acslink.net.au
![[Start ofDocument]](http://www.acs.org.au/images/arrow2.gif)