Cyber Monday Survey Canadian Execs Weigh in on Web Site Importance Will Holiday Splurge trigger online Surge



As Cyber Monday, the year-end holiday season'ss purported busiest online retailing day in North America fast approaches on December 1st, a recent Leger/Fusepoint Managed Services (http://www.fusepoint.com/) survey of senior Canadian business executives details that 60% say their dependence on the corporate web site is increasing each year, with one in three (34%) stating there is a direct link between their corporate bottom line success and the corporate web site. Still, somewhat surprisingly, only about half (49%) have a back-up plan in case the site goes down.

Corporate web sites are a vital avenue used to reach consumers and communicate with customers, and they must remain accessible and available 24x7 - especially in an economic climate where organizations must make every dollar count, said Randy Fougere, Vice President, Fusepoint Managed Services. Maintaining a high availability web site during the busy holiday season should be a top priority for organizations.

In fact, 77% percent of respondents whose corporate sites conduct e-commerce believe the current state of the economy will have little effect on their online transactions, as one in three (33%) believe their company'ss online transactions will increase this holiday season on average by 15%. Sixty percent of all senior decision makers say that customers are finding them by searching online, and nearly one-quarter (23%) say they'sd rather lose their top sales guy than not have a web site.

Prepared for the Holidays, or False Sense of Security

Seventy-eight percent of Canadian executives report being confident in their website'ss operation during the busy holiday season, despite the majority (56%) doing nothing additional to prepare for it. Still, 47% of senior decision makers admit their website has been down unexpectedly in the past, while the majority (71%) suggest their site was back online within a few hours. Unfortunately, one-quarter (24%) said it took a day or longer to get back up and running. The stark reality is that one in five (20%) decision makers say they can only accept one hour or less of downtime without it impacting brand reputation or the bottom line.

Surprisingly, half (48%) of all decision makers have no idea when the spikes in online activity occur on their site. Of those that do, 20% say the greater web site activity occurs during evenings (after 5 p.m.) and 20% answered prime time day time (10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.).

Are Canadian e-Commerce Sites PCI Compliant

Senior executives with an e-commerce presence were also asked about their organizations understanding of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS (http://www.fusepoint.com/english/html/pci.html)). PCI standards were developed by credit companies to safeguard consumers's credit information from hackers and thieves. Non-compliance can result in fines, restrictions or possibly permanent expulsion from card acceptance programs.

Poll results show that while three in five (59%) feel their web site does a good job of staying current with the latest security and e-commerce transaction standards, one in four (25%) worry their web site may do down during a critical time while only one quarter (27%) of those conducting e-commerce transactions are PCI compliant (http://www.fusepoint.com/english/html/pci.html).

Meanwhile, of those who have heard of PCI compliance standards but have yet to come into compliance, over three-quarters (78%) say their business would see an increase in overall security by becoming PCI compliant and 77% say their business would see an increase in customer confidence when providing personal information. Additionally, almost half (47%) of respondents say their company would have a significant if not greater competitive advantage by implementing such regulations.

About the survey

The online survey was conducted for Fusepoint Managed Services (http://www.fusepoint.com/) by Leger Marketing between November 3 and 16, 2008. A total of 800 Canadian corporate decision makers including Senior Manager, Vice President or Director, CEO, CFO, COO or President and Owner whose web site is used as a means of communicating with customers/clients. Results from a sample this size can be considered accurate with within 3.5% 19 times out of 20.

About Fusepoint Managed Services

Founded in 1999, Fusepoint is a privately held company with offices in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City. Through our proven record of success we have built a loyal base of over 400 customers and strong, strategic relationships with Canada'ss leading technology and communication companies.

Fusepoint'ss managed IT solutions are SLA-guaranteed, scalable and designed to reduce cost structures while mitigating risk. Fusepoint is also SAS 70 (http://www.fusepoint.com/english/html/compliance.html) Type II, CICA 5970 (http://www.fusepoint.com/english/html/compliance.html), and most recently Tier 1 PCI compliant, which means our processes are rigorously and continuously audited by accredited third parties and consistently operate at the highest levels within the industry. For more information, visit http://www.fusepoint.com

Roger Hamshaw

Director Marketing Fusepoint

905.363.3796





Cyber Monday Survey Canadian Execs Weigh in on Web Site Importance Will Holiday Splurge trigger online Surge