The boom in electronic business is driving demand for professionals skilled in Web technology and management, and this is leading to higher salaries and other compensation in the field. Average compensation for Web professionals this year is up 9 percent from 1997, according to Network Computing's 1998 Intranet/Web Manager Job Satisfaction and Salary Survey of 391 professionals conducted in June and July.

"Growth of the Internet and corporate intranets is creating greater demand for experienced professionals," says Tracy Lenzner, president of Lenzner & Associates, a Williamsville, N.Y., executive recruitment firm that specializes in placing information technology and security professionals. "We expect to see the next decade as a hotbed for enterprise service providers in general."

Intranets Fuel Growth

Much of this increase stems from the growth of intranets, which many companies have come to rely on for a wide variety of applications such as information sharing, human resources and training. Of those companies that said they have built or plan to develop an intranet or private Internet, nearly 70 percent said their network is operational, 12 percent said they are in the midst of rolling out or piloting their intranets, another 12 percent plan to deploy networks in the next 12 months, and 7 percent plan to deploy but have no timetable. A year ago, only 27 percent of those surveyed said their companies were conducting a full intranet rollout.

Improved communications is the key benefit of the networks. When asked to identify the business purpose of their intranet, 92 percent of those surveyed this year said the network improves communication within their organization. Next highest was improved departmental communication, cited by 65 percent. Other reasons mentioned were document repository, 61 percent; access to existing applications, 43 percent; collaboration, 39 percent; remote access, 37 percent; cost savings, 36 percent; improved communication with business partners, 32 percent; and electronic commerce, 14 percent.

Companies are using their intranets to provide many types of services in their organizations. Seventy-four percent are using them as a document repository, 68 percent for e-mail or other communications, 64 percent for database access, 56 percent for technical support, 52 percent for human resources, 50 percent for training, 48 percent for intranet applications, 43 percent for software distribution, 42 percent for remote access and 40 percent for network management/helpdesk. Among the fastest growing intranet uses from last year to this are database access, human resources and software distribution.