New research by the market intelligence company Rhetorik has revealed that British companies, from small and medium sized firms to corporates, are still cautious about the benefits of a fully integrated e-business system.

The study, which covered 361 UK businesses, showed that 97% of public and private sector organisations have a corporate web site but only 17% of the sites are transactional - revealing, according to Rhetorik, that the majority of UK organisations are holding back on adopting an e-business infrastructure.

When asked what was holding them back, almost half (45%) answered worries about security while lack of budget was also a significant factor, especially in public sector organisations. A quarter (22%) of the researched companies felt that they did not have a need for integrated e-business applications.

However, the cautious attitude of British businesses seems to be changing - 30% of the questioned businesses said they are planning to adopt a transactional web site in the next twelve months and 21% intend to set up extranets with partners and customers.