Juan Carlos Perez

Economic turbulence and the wait for Microsoft Corp.'s newest operating system caused many Latin American consumers and businesses to hold off on buying PCs in the third quarter, Gartner Inc.'s Dataquest unit said last Friday.

Online retailers in Latin America need to improve their payment systems, customer service and order fulfillment operations, and increase their product variety, according to a study released last Tuesday.

The use of call centres in Latin America is increasing, as large companies realize that providing telephone support to their clients is necessary to remain competitive, according to an International Data Corp. (IDC) study released this month.

AT&T Latin America Corp. will let go of 10 per cent of its employees and has reduced its revenue expectations for 2001 because economic turmoil in the region and in the United States has affected sales, the company announced this month.

IT managers must be prepared to see half of all the well-known IT vendors doing business today disappear in the next three years, either through mergers or bankruptcy, according to Gartner Inc.

IT professionals in charge of computer security need only look in the mirror to meet their biggest enemy.

Hewlett-Packard Co. and Compaq Computer Corp. have a detailed integration plan already drafted that will allow the companies to provide customers with clear product migration paths one month after the companies' proposed merger closes, said Carly Fiorina, HP's chief executive officer and chairman.

The wireless market in Latin America will be so consolidated by the end of 2001 that four telecommunication companies will control 83 per cent of subscribers in the region, according to a new study released last week.