Stories about: Monitor Group

Cisco take note: Juniper's new EX 4200 switch not only fills a hole in a leading competitor's product line, but also represents a credible alternative for enterprise access switching.

Once upon a time, not so very long ago or far away, a kind-hearted customer service czar found himself in a bit of a pickle. His company had been pitching a special Christmas gift across the land: a chunky, gold NFL ring, custom-embossed with a favorite football team, guaranteed to arrive by Dec. 25. The ring was a hit-too much of a hit. Four days before Christmas, the czar learned that 250 orders were going to run late. Rather than see 250 customers have a very unmerry Christmas (and think very unmerry thoughts about the company that let them down), the czar sent each one a $100 NFL team jacket for free, shipped overnight to arrive by Christmas Eve.

The results of a survey by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) into online shopping were published earlier this week and hold both good news and bad news for those running or planning Internet shopping ventures.

The internet may yet change everything, but the rate of change will differ wildly among industries. For some businesses the future has arrived, while for others it's still a theoretical possibility hovering on a distant horizon.