After a stormy few years, Silicon Valley startups and
old hands have come to appreciate the stolid virtues of Europe,
where customers may be more cautious but are also prepared to stay
the investment course.
"The last four years have been some of the most difficult for
those in the industry," said Eric Benahamou, chairman of 3Com and
PalmOne at this week's Cal-IT Europe forum in London. "But optimism
is starting to rise - a new kind of sober optimism."
Although the dotcom slump is behind them, California's IT
companies still feel the lingering effects, such as a lack of
confidence and investment in the industry. And while more
conservative European buying attitudes may not generate the
unbridled enthusiasm that marked the dotcom heyday, many industry
experts prefer its resistance to technology hype, which forces
companies to focus more on providing solid products and reliable
services.
What's more, European companies are more open to trying new,
foreign technologies and stick with a technology once they have
invested in it.
"US buyers are much more promiscuous," said Allyson
Stewart-Allen of International Marketing Partners.
But to break into European markets, US tech companies are
advised to show their commitment by establishing a local presence
and partners.
"You have to have people in Europe and a genuine investment in
infrastructure," said William Archer, president of AT&T for
Europe, the Middle East and Africa, who moved to Europe 10 months
ago to solidify his company's presence on this side of the
Atlantic.
While companies willing to set sensible targets and make a
commitment to new markets could have good cause for renewed
optimism in the growth of the IT sector, the market turnaround is
not for everyone.
"This is not the case where a common tide will raise all boats,"
said Benhamou, who predicted that security, storage, smartphones,
the convergence of voice, data and video and wireless local area
networks would drive the market.
Although experts are predicting a turnaround, some IT industry
players, particularly from California, are apparently still shaken
from the dotcom bust.
"Losses loom larger than gains, so we are not as optimistic as
we should be," said Benhamou. "But if we could take a step back and
look at where we came from we would feel a lot better today than we
do."
Scarlet Pruitt writes for IDG News Service