The projected growth rates are based on information provided by application developers and management information systems (MIS) managers in a survey recently conducted by Strategic.

Survey participants were asked to compare what they spent on Web application development tools in 1997 to what they expect to spend this year.

While the projected growth rate for Web application development tool expenditures is higher in Europe than in the U.S., the per company expense on average is lower in Europe, according to Strategic Focus president and principal consultant Jay Prakash. 

Different levels of market growth rates were seen across Europe as well, Prakash said. For marketing purposes it is reasonable to look at Europe as a whole.  However, for developing marketing strategy, such as for Java, a language used for building Web-based applications, vendors need to take a hard look at trends in individual countries, he said. About 23.7 percent of all European Web-based applications were built using Java, according to  Prakash.

The U.K. had the highest growth rate for Web applications development tools, Prakash said. 

"The U.K. has been behind in this marketplace in dollar expenditures and is playing catch up in 1998." While the U.K. is moving forward, the country also had one of the lower per site expenditures, he added. 

France came in second place with its growth rates, with Germany in third place. 

The country's different levels of market penetration can be attributed to differences in language, technology penetration, cultures and general acceptance and adoption of these technologies, Prakash said.

The survey covered specific purchasing criteria, such as platforms and types of Web-based applications being developed and did not address the specific drivers behind the market increase, said Prakash. The survey also explored time frames for implementing Web based applications, the types of Web-based applications implemented and what percentage of those are developed in Java versus other applications. 

Published in June, the study, "Trends in Web & Java Application Development Markets," is based on 200 respondents to a mailed survey in the U.S. and 450 respondents to a telephone poll conducted in the U.K. Germany and France.