There are numerous advantages to being able to get credible market research
for free (see last week’s enable). However, there are also many benefits to
utilizing professional market research companies. While these companies can be
expensive, there is no doubt that the resulting product is excellent and highly
useful to both start-ups and established companies. In addition, all of the
market research firms discussed in today’s column have special pricing services,
and packages for bootstrapping start-ups.
Today’s column deals with 3 leading market research firms that I have worked
with professionally. All of them provide professional work product and excellent
customer service, and each has its own particular advantages.
The purpose of today’s column is not to endorse – rather it is to provide you
with background information to help you make an informed decision. Enable will
also provide you with a few "tricks" for getting some of the data from these
professional firms for free.
The Gartner Group
The Gartner Group bills
itself as the world’s leading technology marketplace consultants. It provides
customized market research and consulting in the areas of Computers and
Peripheral, Software and Applications, Telecommunications, Electronic Business
and Commerce and Semiconductors.
The Gartner Group’s key advantage is its reputation in the industry. The
Gartner Group citation carries substantial weight with both investors and
clients. Gartner has over 1,000 analysts and consultants who cover specific and
targeted market segments. They also provide both user and vendor perspectives,
and speak directly with industry "movers and shakers."
Gartner’s web site is highly organized and provides non-clients with a lot of
useful information for free. This includes an archived site called "hot topics"
which provides recent reports on topics of interest in the IT field. For
example, you can view reports on European PC pricing, Oracle, JD Edwards and
Knowledge Management which came out in late April and early May of this year.
Check out Gartner’s site for more information and the benefits of becoming a
client.
International Data Corporation (IDC)
IDC claims to be the information
technology industry's most comprehensive resource on worldwide IT markets,
trends, products, vendors, and geographies. IDC provides data, analysis and
advisory services to the world's leading IT suppliers as well as IT
professionals in finance, insurance, entertainment, advertising, consumer goods
and publishing.
IDC's research and opinions are based on the results of more than 300,000
end-user surveys, in-depth competitive analysis, broad technology coverage, and
strategic analysis. IDC is committed to providing global research with local
content through its 500 analysts in more than 40 countries worldwide.
IDC is a global organization. It has offices in more than 40 countries and
nearly 800 professionals worldwide providing in-depth, granular analysis on all
facets of computing to facilitate informed business decisions. It has more than
3,900 clients worldwide - from Fortune 500 leaders to start-up organizations to
government agencies
IDC has analysts following all aspects of information technology, and
features continuous information services focusing on: Internet and eCommerce
Strategies, Computing, Consumer Devices, Software, Networking Architectures,
Telecommunications and Semiconductors.
IDC’s website too provides non-clients with useful, free information.
Checkout both "Executive Insights" and "Market Data and Insights" for
information on a wide range of subjects. One of the best is "IDC predictions 99
- The Real Internet Emerges". This is designed to be a teaser - but it is full
of data and information on the future of the Internet.
Profound
Profound is a leading
on-line data base. Subscribers are entitled to access more than 100 million
pages of data, research reports from more than 60 publishers, 40,000 market
research reports, 60,000 analyst reports – either in whole or in part at
affordable prices.
Profound’s key benefit is that it enables users to download either full
market research reports, a particular section of a report, or even just a page
or table from a report – for a fee. This enables users who do not need or cannot
pay for an entire report to benefit from it cost effectively.
Profound describes itself as the online business service designed to deliver
decision making data, every day, without information overload. Users can learn
how to search on Profound and/or ask a Profound professional to do the search
for them. This service is provided willingly and free of charge for all Profound
subscribers. Like Garter and IDC, Profound provides excellent customer service.
Use The "Press Release" Feature For Free Data
The easiest way to get authoritative data from IDC and Gartner is to go to
their sites and click on "press releases". After doing so, you will find a gold
mine of market research sound bites. This includes up-to-date data and quotes
from analysts on the latest market numbers and trends.
While these quotes are just that – short teasers of information - they do
provide an excellent summary and overview of the latest numbers and trends in a
wide variety of industries. Check them out and take advantage of them in both
Gartner’s and IDC’s sites.
Gartner, IDC and Profound all have special pricing services, and packages for
bootstrapping start-ups. Contact enable if you are interested in finding out
more.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on May 19, 1999