There’s more bad news for IBM Corp and other manufacturers dependent on proprietary systems in a survey among US users conducted by Computerworld magazine – and object-oriented technology has not yet made much of an impression on major users. The paper, which thought the headline results from the survey should be disseminated more widely than in only in its own pages, reports that despite the recession, many large US companies will be putting more money into information systems in the next 12 months – and the majority will be going open. The poll is among what Computerworld tags the Premier 100 most effective users of computers among the Fortune 500, and the paper found that almost 75%, including all retailers polled, expect to install new systems to gain a competitive edge over the next 12 months. The paper also found that 58% have increased spending on computers in the past 12 months, up 3% over last year’s figures – presumably they mean up three percentage points. And of the ones planning to buy new equipment, 67% will be moving to open systems. As for emerging technologies, imaging systems, local area networks and expert systems are seen as the most important. Overseas expansion is a priority, with 62% saying they will be expanding overseas in 1991 and 1992; 92% say it’s very likely or somewhat likely that their company will redesign a business process around computers in the next 12 months. For many, the recession has put technology in the spotlight – In the past, we got less than our share of corporate funding, said William Dimoulas, vice-president of information systems at Long Island Lighting: Now we’re probably getting more than our share.
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