IDC Research Types
Analyst
Analyst Profile
Provides complete background information on an IDC analyst. Each profile provides a biography, a notable quotation, a frequently asked question relevant to the particular analyst's focus, and a list of research authored by that analyst.
Team Profile
Lists the analyst members of a topical team. Outlines general areas of coverage and any specialties.
Briefs
Flash
Provides rapid IDC insight and analysis about a significant industry event or conference, merger or acquisition, product announcement, or other fast-breaking news affecting the IT market.
Forecast Update
Provides a short, quick look at an updated forecast and the changed assumptions behind the update. It updates a market forecast published in the same calendar year, identifies changed and key forecast assumptions, and highlights actions for participants to consider in light of the changes.
IDC Insight
Provides coverage and analysis of an industry event, new product or service, or a company announcement or development.
Update
Provides brief overview coverage of what is happening in a market.
Vendor Profiles
Provides a concise, hard-hitting profile of an emerging vendor. A profile will highlight new players and technologies and the potential paradigm shifts or disruptions a vendor represents.
Daily Graphics
Daily Graphic
Illustrates IDC's keen analysis of major market trends in downloadable PowerPoints. Available as a free download the day it appears, an IDC Daily Graphic provides valuable material for speeches and strategic planning.
Event Proceedings
Event Proceeding
Provides published slides, audio, and other materials from IDC and Insights Web conferences, briefings, forums, or other events.
Events
Conference
Delivers dependable, relevant, and high-impact data and insight to help organizations make sound business and technology decisions. eBusiness executives, IT professionals, IT suppliers, and services suppliers benefit from the strategic insight and networking opportunities IDC conferences offer. Generally, all presentation slides are available online, and for most conferences, streaming audio of key discussions is available as well.
Web Conference
Focuses on significant trends and paradigm shifts. Each Web conference will provide attendees with leading-edge market information that will enable them to make smart business decisions. For those unable to attend in person or those wishing to review the content presented, these synchronized multimedia presentations are available online.
IDC DecisionScapes
IDC FutureScape
Serves as a framework for IT/tech professionals' IT strategy and planning for the next one to three years. It lists IDC's top 10 worldwide technology trends for the coming one to three years in a given research area and includes related drivers, projected IT/business strategy impact, and guidance.
IDC MarketScape
Helps IT/tech professionals develop a short list of suitable suppliers when selecting a vendor. Provides an unbiased assessment of tech suppliers in terms of offerings, strategy, capabilities, and other important factors in a given technology area.
IDC MaturityScape
Describes five stages of "maturity" or capability for a particular technology area, helps IT/tech professionals understand where their organizations fit within those stages, and provides guidance on key components for planning successful improvements to a tech initiative.
IDC MaturityScape Benchmark
Helps IT/tech professionals to benchmark their maturity against peers, develop a business case for a tech initiative, and build consensus about where critical IT investments should be made. Presents quantitative research results that show the market distribution for a given tech initiative across the five stages of maturity presented in the related IDC MaturityScape. Shows the results and components of particularly successful initiatives.
IDC PeerScape
Gives IT/tech professionals insight into best practices (and practices to avoid) by providing specific use case examples implemented by peers. Identifies practices that have the most impact on the success of a tech or business initiative, and provides actionable guidance for each practice.
IDC PlanScape
Helps IT/tech professionals to justify and plan a business and/or technology investment or opportunity by exploring why, what, who, and how (these are also the main section headings). Presents key players, critical success factors, risks, and actions to consider for a designated technology and/or business management area.
IDC TechScape
Helps IT/tech professionals with developing IT strategic plans and evaluating emerging technologies in terms of their risk to the business. Shows the adoption curve and risk levels over time for a specific emerging technology. Sorts technologies into three "adoption model" categories (transformational, incremental, opportunistic) to help tech leaders determine the potential impact for their organization.
IDC Links
IDC Link
Provides timely context and insight around important market trends and events in a short opinion piece. IDC Links provide IDC's point of view on:
- Financial announcements
- Product announcements
- Mergers and acquisitions or divestitures
- Events
- Response to news
Insights-only Research
Best Practices
Correlates the use of specific practices and superior performance as indicated by an analysis of the benchmarking database. Highlights any significant differences between industries. Conclusions provide a set of process priorities for improving a business case and advice on how to overcome change management issues.
Business Strategy
Helps buyers to assess their business strategies and/or associated business processes, especially as they relate to the use of technology.
Methods and Practices
Provides a step-by-step description of a method or methods that can be applied. As appropriate, the report may compare the benefits and drawbacks of several methods.
Perspective
Presents an article written by an Insights analyst on a topic of special interest to a target audience. This information has generally already appeared in an industry publication and is repackaged for display on the Insights Web site.
Vendor Assessment
Helps buyers select the right IT supplier. The report helps buyers understand the various providers of a technology by providing analysis on market landscape, vendor profiles, vendor market share, and vendor assessments.
Pivot Tables
Pivot Table
Presents an interactive spreadsheet tool for analyzing trends and activities in a specific market segment. These tables are available only through an annual subscription service.
Predictions
Top 10 Predictions
Provides bold, well-conceived market predictions grounded in solid methodologies, primary research, and analyst experience. Lays out a clear road map to understanding major market opportunities and trends.
Presentations
IDC Presentation
Provides the latest, select CIS forecast data, primary research survey findings, and critical IDC analyst opinion in a succinct, easy-to-digest PowerPoint format.
IDC Survey
Presents a hypothesis about what is happening in the market backed by the results of a demand-side or supply-side survey. The focus is on interpreting and analyzing the survey results and providing a strong point of view along with actionable advice.
IDC Survey Spotlight
Answers a timely question and provides a strong opinion backed by IDC survey data. This is a quick nugget of information that is presented in two concise PowerPoint slides.
Insights Presentation
Provides an easy-to-use format to post on the Web presentations that were previously delivered at public forums (such as conferences and events) or for internal client meetings and client presentations. It may not come as part of a consulting/custom engagement.
Market Analysis Perspective
Delivers a concise current state view of a market and insight into the impact of future trends. Business executives, product managers, and MI/AR professionals can use this information when looking to understand buyers' perspectives and market impacts.
Press Releases
Press Release
Announces significant corporate news, such as key hirings or promotions, performance milestones, event highlights, or speaking engagements.
Product Information
Fact Sheet
Describes a research product. Usually details the major areas of coverage and deliverables, and outlines key questions and competitive market conditions that the research will address. Includes links to all published research for a research product.
Studies
Competitive Analysis
Provides a detailed accounting and review of a vendor's programs, processes, products, service, satisfaction, and/or strategy in a target market. This knowledge helps clients reduce their risk of losing market share or enhance their position over the competition.
Customer Needs and Strategies
Focuses on the important decisions that business and IT professionals make every day.
Industry Developments and Models
Provides a detailed assessment of a specific target market's expansion pattern. This analysis helps clients develop and deploy the right mix of value-add products, programs, or services to support their sales and/or partnering efforts.
Market Analysis
Provides an in-depth examination of the dynamics and future of a single market or a group of related markets. The Market Analysis is where we will typically present our forecasts and assumptions, using a key forecast assumptions table.
Market Forecast
Provides the future of a single market or a group of related markets. It presents a new or updated market forecast, including key drivers and assumptions used in the forecast.
Market Share
Provides data on market size, regional allocations, and platform splits as well as a summary of vendor shares for the most recently completed period (year, quarter).
Special Study
Provides a onetime study produced by a research group that is not published as a deliverable under a subscription service.
Survey
Provides a study and interpretation of the results of a demand- or supply-side survey.
Taxonomy
Highlights and emphasizes how IDC tracks the market while also making it easier for customers to find and identify IDC Taxonomy documents.
Technology Assessment
Provides an analysis of the intricacies of an emerging or established technology or the technologies contained within a specific product.
Vendor Needs and Strategies
Provides an in-depth analysis of a company, a small group of companies, a division of a company focused on a particular market, or a best practice that the company exemplifies.
This IDC Perspective examines contextual collective intelligence for insight at scale for work, operations, and experience. Borrowing from Tom Malone, founding director of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, the design objective ...
This IDC Perspective highlights the commonly understood definition of data literacy, provides metrics from IDC's market research exposing the current level of data literacy (that can be used to benchmark your enterprise), and recommends ...
This IDC Perspective presents a framework for the what IDC is calling the "future of work." Technologies such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, robotics, augmented and virtual reality, and intelligent process automation are rapidly ...
This IDC Perspective provides the CIO and senior IT leaders with a foundational framework for implementing artificial intelligence in the enterprise. This framework allows CIO and IT executives to create a comprehensive and consistent IT ...
This IDC Perspective discusses digital resilience as a requirement for an organization to achieve digital trust in DX. Digital resilience is a strategic prescription of preventive, proactive, and reactive measures that involve people, processes, ...
This IDC PeerScape presents four practices to help vehicle manufacturers and suppliers, fleet owners and operators, and repair organizations understand how to improve and evolve aftermarket services. These practices center on the use of ...
IDC Innovators are emerging vendors with revenue <$100 million that have demonstrated either a groundbreaking business model or an innovative new technology — or both. This IDC Innovators study profiles Bonfire Interactive Ltd., Keelvar, ...
This IDC Perspective covers the current state of AI deployments and provides actionable guidance to businesses on the need to create an AI strategy. The document also discusses an approach to effectively realize an AI strategy and create ...
IDC Innovators are emerging vendors with revenue <$100 million that have demonstrated either a groundbreaking business model or an innovative new technology — or both. This IDC Innovators study profiles Fairmarkit, LVRG, SirionLabs, tealbook, ...
This IDC Perspective looks at five open source software project areas that have the potential to impact the industry broadly: thin virtualization, Istio and service mesh, deep learning, edge-enabling infrastructure, and enabling technology ...
This IDC Tech Buyer Presentation, created for CXO and business leaders alike, provides a single source of knowledge about the changing role of architecture in the enterprise. It explores the shift in architecture goals from the traditional ...
This IDC study provides an assessment of prominent SaaS and cloud-enabled CMMS software solutions and discusses what criteria are most important for companies to consider when selecting a system.
"It is incredibly easy for asset managers ...
This IDC study considers the collective technologies in the application life-cycle, development, DevOps, and PaaS market areas.
"Given the high degree of interest in moving to an agile, DevOps-managed development and deployment practice, ...
This IDC Perspective describes the benefits of moving throughout the stages of cloud strategy in a quick and efficient manner. The purpose is to stress the importance of a longer-term vision when planning a cloud migration. The content describes ...
This IDC Tech Buyer Presentation highlights seven key performance indicators (KPIs) that help organizations evaluate the effectiveness of infrastructure modernization within today's digital transformation (DX)-centric enterprise.
With ...
This IDC TechBrief discusses the current state of blockchain technology and how it will impact technology vendors and buyers in terms of the infrastructure required to establish blockchain solutions. Although blockchain is still in its earliest ...
This IDC study — a collaboration of IDC and IDC Retail Insights teams — provides an assessment of the next-generation infrastructure components that enterprises need to use as the foundation for a more successful and future-proofed digital ...
This IDC PeerScape explores two organizations that are focused on exploiting next-generation KPIs and becoming more data-driven organizations. One is a cloud-based SaaS business whose KPIs are focused on creating world-class cloud-based ...
This IDC study provides an assessment of the leading SaaS and cloud-enabled operational ERP software solutions and discusses what criteria are most important for companies to consider when selecting a system.
"It is imperative in today's ...
This IDC study describes the organizational characteristics at five levels of future of work maturity, from a completely ad hoc approach with limited awareness to one in which a future of work strategy is woven into the organization's culture ...
This IDC MaturityScape describes the key characteristics of the five maturity stages of retail business model innovation, range from the lowest Ad Hoc stage (defined as "stuck in legacy") to the most mature Optimized stage (defined as "innovation-culture-driven"). ...
This IDC Perspective provides an overview and analysis of telecom and cable service provider network M&A deals, joint ventures (JVs), and IPOs disclosed in 2018. The document is limited to M&A deals in which the acquirer would take ...
This IDC Perspective discusses IT's face to the business as the combination of the software applications it deploys, hardware devices it distributes, projects it implements, client support it provides, and help desk services it delivers. ...
This IDC MarketScape assesses the capabilities and strategies of several key enterprise software vendors in serving the specific needs of retail companies worldwide across industry segments (food and non-food retail). Vendors are evaluated ...
This IDC Perspective explores the topic of marketing's practical response to discussions about transparency, privacy, bias, trust, and social responsibility that are happening at leading tech companies today. In response to growing awareness ...
This IDC Perspective presents requirements of the Open, Public, Electronic, and Necessary (OPEN) Government Data Act, which mandates that all nonsensitive federal government data be made available in open and machine-readable formats by ...
This IDC MarketScape assesses seven IT software providers offering end-to-end solutions to corporate banks, spanning channels, their core processing needs, and functional capabilities from treasury to lending in a convenient package. The ...
This IDC study uses the IDC TechScape model to provide a systematic assessment of technologies related to the use of technologies that are being applied in retail to create an experience that feels bespoke to each customer. The IDC TechScape ...
This IDC study describes the IDC MaturityScape for data excellence, a framework for identifying the stages, critical measures, outcomes, and actions required for IT organizations to effectively evolve to the data excellence as a critical ...
This IDC Perspective analyzes information released at the Atos Investor Day 2019 and discusses implications for buyers of business and technology services.
"Buyers should take another look at Atos," said Gard Little, vice president, ...
This IDC study presents a digital transformation road map framework that enables retail organizations to develop their own digital transformation road map for experiential retail operations.
"Retail organizations should customize the ...
This IDC PeerScape presents five practices for delivering effective mobile retail customer experience (CX). Customers are increasingly searching for products online using their mobile phones from notifications that pop up as messages preview, ...
This IDC Perspective gives CIOs a set of basic approaches to help their IT organizations deliver service to the business at the speed required and can be considered a playbook to guide the IT organization as it focuses on the areas of greatest ...
This IDC PlanScape discusses the importance of responsible and ethical AI for federal and state governments.
"For nations to thrive, the ethics of AI must catch up with the technology so that governments, industries, and individuals ...
This IDC PeerScape highlights the challenges faced by three banks that have recently implemented new KYC solutions or planned and implemented a remediation effort. The examples contain a description of the problem and actions taken by each ...
This IDC Perspective reflects the predominant retail themes that permeated the National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show 2019, January 13–15, at Jacob Javits in New York City. The energy among the more than 35,000 attendees made it clear ...
This IDC Perspective, which is the 48th notable news , is a regular quarterly review of notable news in the life sciences. It is intended to highlight signposts of both progress in ongoing industry trends and ongoing indications of industry ...
This IDC study provides an assessment of the leading SaaS and cloud-enabled accounts receivable software solutions and discusses what criteria are most important for companies to consider when selecting a system.
"AR is essential to ...
This IDC study provides an assessment of the most prominent SaaS and cloud-enabled accounts payable application software solutions and discusses what criteria are most important for companies to consider when selecting a system.
"AP ...
This IDC Perspective looks at digital procurement and what is missing for procurement organizations to become digitally enabled and transformed.
Mickey North Rizza, program vice president, Enterprise Applications and Digital Commerce, ...
This IDC MarketScape evaluates vendors in the mobile field force management by performing a qualitative and quantitative assessment of their capabilities and strategy. It aims to aid utilities in deciding on their current or future MFFM ...
This IDC Perspective highlights five key takeaways for automotive manufacturers from our experiences at CES 2019 and ongoing discussions with automotive ecosystem providers. IDC recently sent a fleet of analysts to CES 2019 in Las Vegas, ...
This IDC Perspective identifies several major trends that we believe will impact life science companies in 2019.
"Digital transformation in life science is becoming a core trend spanning the entire industry life cycle with an ongoing ...
This IDC Perspective examines how a technology platform company has utilized location data from Unacast along with additional first-party and third-party data to model optimal food truck locations in New York City.
"It seems like there ...
This IDC Tech Buyer Presentation provides a 2019 update of the state of digital transformation (DX) in the U.S. property and casualty (P&C) insurance market. It provides a view of dominant trends in the market, IT spending trends, and ...
This IDC Perspective provides guidance to CIOs who are doing battle in the talent wars. This study defines the dimensions of talent shortages, explains what the shortfalls mean to IT and the business, and identifies specific strategies for ...
This IDC presentation looks at the European implications of the worldwide manufacturing 2019 predictions.
Driven by several business, economic, technological, and competitive reasons, manufacturers are looking for innovative business ...
This IDC Perspective discusses the 2018 U.S. Consumer Banking Channel Preference Survey conducted among 2,501 U.S. residents who are 18+ and have an active checking account. This document specifically looks at the responses as it ...
This IDC Perspective reviews how storage and data availability requirements are on the rise, focusing in particular on what this has meant for availability targets set by enterprises and how well organizations are performing in meeting those ...
This IDC PeerScape describes how several chief information officers (CIOs), in a variety of industries, are revamping IT procurement and vendor management to get in sync with a fast-paced digital economy. They're dealing with more vendors ...
This IDC study provides an assessment of the prominent SaaS and cloud-enabled asset-intensive EAM application solutions and discusses what criteria are most important for companies to consider when selecting a system.
"More and more ...
This IDC study presents the results of IDC's 2018 Customer Communications Management MaturityScape Benchmark Survey and should be viewed as a supplement to IDC MaturityScape: Customer Communications ...
This IDC study uses the IDC MarketScape model to provide an assessment of several providers participating in the worldwide manufacturing execution system (MES) market. The IDC MarketScape is an evaluation based on a comprehensive framework ...
This IDC TechBrief defines the technologies and discusses considerations information technology (IT) managers need to keep in mind as they think about deploying them. As storage performance requirements have continued to increase, emerging ...
This IDC Perspective discusses the future of IBM Z beyond the next two IBM Z generations. IBM is investing heavily in IBM Z, not only in the generation after today's z14 but also in technologies beyond the next two IBM Z generations. The ...
This IDC study represents a vendor assessment of the ITSM implementation services through the IDC MarketScape model. This assessment discusses both quantitative and qualitative characteristics that explain success in the ITSM implementation ...
This IDC study provides an assessment of select SaaS and cloud-enabled sales tax and VAT automation software solutions and discusses what criteria are most important for companies to consider when selecting a system.
"The speed of ...
