Features - Enterprise Data Insights:

SURVEY OF DEVELOPERS REPORTS WEB-ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES IS IN

While the growth of the commercial Internet industry may have plateaued, a new survey of database programmers fielded in June 2002 finds that, more than ever, the Internet dominates the plans of businesses seeking new and improved methods for tapping their mission critical data. The Evans Data Corp. Summer 2002 Database Developers survey, fielded among more than 700 North America database specialists, indicates that use of the Web to access and collect critical commercial information is rebounding with Web-enabling technologies back in vogue despite the bursting of the "dot.com" bubble.

Despite the recent environment of major corporate IT spending cut-backs, the survey found that all of the strategies for managing Web-based data ­ from real-time updating, to data collection, to dynamic page creation ­ have increased in relative importance in the eyes of database developers.

According to the survey, a majority of database developers, 72%, rate dynamic page creation as critical and 72% percent also give high priority to automatic site updating. Developers rank dynamic page creation first in importance of features found in a database with Web access, followed by real time reporting of information to Web pages in real-time and automatic update of site information based on database content.

In addition to renewed impetus in Web-enabling corporate data repositories, the research uncovered increased momentum in the push to make databases accessible from mobile platforms. According to the report, 47% of respondents are either developing database applications that support wireless or handheld devices, or plan to do so within the coming year, a nine-point jump from the survey a year ago. More than a third of programmers are targeting PDA's for their first deployment, ahead of any other device category. In another significant finding, though one with unsettling implications, direct security breaches against databases appear to be mounting, with one in five respondents experiencing a breach in the most recent survey. This is up significantly from the Winter 2002 survey six months ago, when 12% reported direct breaches. The most frequent type of security breach, 22%, was a viral attack from outside the enterprise.

The Database Developer Survey, conducted twice a year, provides a detailed picture of platform use & migration, database use, connectivity & architectures, the Internet, data warehouses & data marts, security, tools use & requirements, and language use. The survey provides numerous cross tabs of data against developer segment and industry to enable a close-up understanding of specific development areas.

About Evans Data Corporation

Evans Data Corporation conducts primary research on attitudes, beliefs, understandings and intentions of software developers around the world. The company maintains a panel of more than 14,000 developers worldwide. Custom quantitative and qualitative research is available, as well as subscriptions to the North American Developer Survey, the International Developer Survey, the Enterprise Development Management Issues Survey series, the Linux Developer series, the Database Developer Survey, the Wireless Developer Survey and the Embedded Systems Developer Survey and now the Chinese Developer Survey.

For more information: EDC can be reached by phone: 800-831-3080, by email: info@evansdata.com or on the web: www.evansdata.com . In Europe, contact Jeremy McGee, Bassett Marketing 440-23-8079-0655 or email jeremy.mcgee@bassettmarketing.com . In Japan: Philip Davies, ODS, 03-3486-2676 or email davies@ods.co.jp. EDC is a division of the American Science Corp.