Our research approach focuses not only on the four core technology spaces of AI, automation, analytics and data platforms; we also prioritize exploration of the intersections between these technology spaces (see left for key examples).

• We run four European research programs that support specialist software platform and tools vendors, application software vendors, infrastructure providers, professional services providers and enterprises through written research and one-to-one inquiry sessions. Our team works collaboratively across these research programs, to ensure we can address key intersectional issues and trends effectively and quickly.
• European Data from IDC’s Worldwide AI and Generative AI Spending Guide and Software Tracker products give clients deep quantitative insights into past, present and future demand across multiple technology markets, countries and regions, and use cases.
• We deliver dozens of custom projects annually that guide vendor internal strategy development through deep competitor and customer analysis, including detailed total addressable market studies; guide buyers with insightful and provocative thought leadership programs; and enable and educate vendors’ sales and go-to-market teams.
• IDC’s experienced analysts regularly present leading market insights at industry events across the region and more widely – including across a packed calendar of Foundry and IDC events.

Are you looking for ways to drive major savings with IT suppliers?

Buyers utilize IDC benchmarking tools such as IT Deal Review, the SAS pricing Database and SmartIndex to drive millions in savings with IT suppliers. Documented benchmarking delivered by IDC allows sourcing professionals to share success with key stakeholders.

IDC will help you defend audits based upon broad experience across key vendors.

Software vendors continue to utilize formal audits as a key source of revenue and an important device in negotiating new agreements and renewals. IDC analysts find a significant portion of audit findings can be negotiable with the proper documentation. IDC will support independent SAM engagements that accurately document compliance and defend audits based upon broad experience across key vendors.

Contract better when sourcing

Vendors are experts at bidding and contracting. Most clients aren’t because it is not their day job. Have IDC experts assist you in leveling the field.

Drive an effective process that creates the best outcome in sourcing initiatives. Include market intelligence to short-list vendors and save time, effort and process cost.

The contracting process for a new or existing partner can be as complicated and confusing as the selection itself. IDC simplifies and standardizes the process with its consistent framework to ensure improved outcomes, faster and more effectively and with less pain. We support clients through the process of contracting a new services provider. IDC helps manage the negotiation and contracting processes. We can supply key terms and conditions to ensure a performative contract, benchmark the proposed vendor pricing model against similar contracts and services to aid in getting a market conform contract.

Get the value from your vendors you pay for

Understand the price and performance value of your sourcing partners through market benchmarking of price and performance. Rightsize and improve sourcing relationships. Continuous improvement of sourcing relationships.

It is hard to assess whether the outsourced or MSP service you receive is market price and performance conform. Answering the business question, ‘Are we getting a good deal from this relationship’ is harder than anticipated.

Benchmarking the services contracted against market performance and costs peers gives clients a clear understanding where their sourcing partner is performative and where they aren’t. This provides sourcing relationships mid-course corrections or drives improved contracting for future contract renewals or new sourcing projects. Clients and vendors have seen struggling relationships repaired for mutual benefit. It helps clients avoid the effort of changing sourcing providers by allowing the provider to improve their performance to market value. A win-win for both the client and the sourcing provider.

Improve or modernize your legacy to a modern application!

Many customer organizations possess old, large, critical applications that are mission-critical yet feared for maintenance due to low maintainability and loss of original developers. They require maintenance to manage security and production risks. Modernization, like transitioning to microservices, is a potential necessity.

The Software Quality and Risk Assessment service evaluates code quality against notable standards like ISO 25010, ISO 5055, OWASP, and others, encompassing over 2000 rules, with some deemed critical, especially those concerning security. It scans for rule violations in application code, impacting reported health factors: Robustness, Security, Efficiency, Changeability, Transferability, and Maintainability. Additionally, it measures and reports on technical debt, technical size, and functional size (automated function points). IDC Metri offers a comprehensive application blueprint, visually displaying dependencies and interactions across components, classes, frameworks, and modules on multiple levels.

Complete technical insights of your entire application portfolio in weeks!

The ALA service measures a number of application characteristics of the applications in a portfolio in a short period of time, e.g., quality (elegance, resiliency, agility), business impact, cloud readiness (cloud blockers and roadblocks), open-source safety, size, etc.

The result is a detailed overview on both portfolio level as application level which is the basis for fact-based decision-making regarding cloud migration, modernization, mergers & acquisitions (technical due diligence), open-source safety improvements, etc.

Accurately estimate the cost and duration of your project

Get insight in a realistic effort, schedule, and cost, based on ISO standards for functional size, proven parametric models and peer data selected from over 15,000 realized software initiatives.

The result is a size measurement based on industry standards that leads to a cost estimate that is fully based on peer projects that have been carried out under comparable circumstances in a similar type of business area with a team with comparable knowledge and experience.

IDC Metri analysts are certified to translate your requirements into an ISO-standard sizing, which may be audited by external parties when required. We also have ICEAA Software Cost Estimation certified analysts to build a cost estimation model for your software initiative that is defensible towards the project sponsor and other stakeholders.

After the estimate, the actuals are monitored, which may result in changes to the estimate and early warning signs to support decision making.

Based on customer request, this service evaluates your organization’s value creation, benefits management, and/or IT cost functions.

Value management assesses the Project Portfolio process, offering improvement advice. Optionally benchmarks development teams, analyzing their work methods, adopted best practices, and effort allocation between new functionality and non-value tasks. Objective metrics are gauged and market compared.

Benefits management reviews assumptions in change initiative business cases, verifying post-project benefits with IDC Metri’s help, aiding future business case improvements.

Cost Management addresses significant IT expenses, aiding cost reduction, especially on external vendors. IDC Metri identifies the total cost profile, possibly implementing Technology Business Management (TBM) for better technology investment translation to business value, or employing FinOps techniques like Cloud Economics study. The entry-level service pinpoints IT cost allocation, invaluable for many organizations lacking this insight.