September 13, 2001 Wireless and mobile transactions will account for nearly 20% of business-to-business transactions and 25% of business-to-business consumer traffic by 2003, according to a study by META Group Inc (www.metagroup.com).

The Stamford, Conn.-based META Group is an IT research and consulting firm. The firm's Wireless Adoption, Trends, and Issues study examines the purchasers of wireless products and services, buyers' requirements and attitudes about wireless-related products and services. It looks at factors affecting purchasing strategies and plans, and the speed with which corporations are moving from the pilot stage to production.

The report is based on a 2001 survey of 351 professionals from various organizations in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. It analyzes 10 industry groups: manufacturing, pharmaceutical/healthcare, financial services, retail, telecom/communications/utilities, transportation/automotive, IT/business services, media/entertainment, and government.

The study reports that business-critical applications are driving wireless initiatives. In addition, most companies are looking for extensions to existing application infrastructure, vs. a "build-up" of disparate application systems.

The study reports that wireless planning processes are common in enterprises. The results indicate that lines of business typically drive the demand and justification for wireless, while IT leads the implementation process. However, lines of business do exert significant influence over choices made by the IT experts, the report states.

The study says organizations with heavy use of pervasive devices by employees are more aggressive in implementing leading-edge wireless/mobile infrastructure components. This follows findings that the first priority of implementation is for business-to-employee applications, because these applications deliver the most immediate productivity return for organizations.