In the current volatile market characterized by thin margins and intense competition, it is essential for organizations to be market ‘smart’ by ensuring they have some solid intelligence with which to exploit their space in the market.
As Wikipedia puts it, market intelligence (MI) is the “everyday information relevant to a company’s markets, gathered and analyzed specifically for the purpose of accurate and confident decisionmaking in determining market opportunity, market penetration strategy, and market development metrics.”
As simple and straight forward as this definition is, one cannot help but ask the following questions:
• How many companies in a given market (e.g., in Nigeria and other developing markets in Africa) have the right information about their products and the markets in which they operate?
• How many companies know where they stand with the facts in relation to the market and its potential?
• Do companies know who their competitors are? And do they know what their competitors are up to in terms of coldhard facts and figures?
• Do companies know, based on facts and credible information, where their biggest opportunities lie in the market?
It is often easier for companies to seek refugein the misguided belief that their market is simply too big for such meaningful analysis, particularly in situations where this stance can be supported by the presence of a huge population.
But critical questions remain, even in such situations.
For example, what is the extent, the breadth, and the depth of the market’s potential? And what is the relevance of this potential to the company’s products and services in factual data terms?
It is often said that information and communications technology is a business enabler, but we have also seen that it has the potential to be a major cost center for many organizations. Does this have to be the case? Not necessarily.
By digging deep into the value that relevant market information has to offer, organizations can often gain a considerable competitive advantage when seeking out untapped opportunities to milk the juices of the market.
With this in mind, it is imperative that organizations understand their own DNA, because by doing so they can know for certain when, how, and where to use ICT to leverage business for optimal performance.
And how do you access a credible and dependable market intelligence service? Talk to IDC!
IDC is the premier independent provider of market intelligence, events, and advisory services for the ICT and consumer technology markets.
For more than 50 years,IDC has helped IT professionals, business executives, governments, and the investment community make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy.
IDC’sin-depth research provides insights for more than 200 technologies in over 110 countries, along with a global team of over 1,100 technology and industry analysts.
Engaging them will help your organization align technology initiatives with business goals, mitigate technology risks, maximize your IT budget, bring innovative ideas to market faster, and increase the efficiency and reliability of IT investments.
Bola Adisa is the country regional manager and can be contacted via badisa@idc.com