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.
Verizon and Vodafone’s almost identical announcements of Carrier Multi-access edge cloud (MEC) offerings in alliance with AWS that combines their respective 5G wireless low-latency access with the distributed multi-cloud application management ...
Nokia is under pressure after cutting its profit outlook during its 3Q19 earnings call and pausing its dividend payout for the next six months. During its annual Global Analyst Forum, the vendor shared how it intends to move forward from ...
Syncsort's acquisition of Pitney Bowes Software Solutions Business strengthens its position in data management and adds capabilities in the customer communications and location intelligence software and data markets. The acquisition will ...
Endpoint security is challenging. As the number of security point products has grown to thwart an evolving threat landscape and protect an expanding IT footprint, security teams struggle to utilize their mix of products for maximum impact. ...
AT&T held its annual Business Summit November 4-7, 2019, in Dallas, Texas. While there were no major product or service announcements made during this time, the digital transformations that 5G will power were a hot topic overall for ...
AiFi demonstrated its new autonomous store platform, dubbed O.A.S.I.S, at the Mobile World Congress Los Angeles held October 28-30, 2019. AiFi CEO and Cofounder Steve Gu has overseen a multiyear effort to develop the AI and computer vision ...
Apple updated its privacy website on November 6th, 2019. This IDC Link provides a summary of the refresh as well as an analysis of what this means for consumers in Asia. IDC sees this as a smart move by Apple to differentiate ...
On October 30, 2019, Apple announced its calendar 3Q19 earnings results, including:
- Total revenue of $64.0 billion, up 1.8%
- iPhone revenue of $33.4 billion, down 9.2%.
- Mac revenue of $7.0 billion, down 4.7%
- iPad ...
On October 25, 2019, Verizon released its 3Q19 earnings, which beat Wall Street's expectations. The results were primarily driven by solid growth in its wireless business. The company reported total revenue of $32.9 billion, a marginal increase ...
On Tuesday, October 15, Google announced several new products and services in New York City. Among them are: Google's flagship smartphones, the Pixel 4 and 4 XL; a new ultra portable clamshell laptop, the Pixelbook Go; a sneak preview of ...
On October 3, 2019, Ciena announced it will acquire privately held Centina, a service assurance analytics and network performance company. Once the transaction closes near the end of calendar year 2019, the Centina software assets will be ...
At its Surface Event, held October 2, 2019, Microsoft announced a slew of new devices running on silicon from multiple chipset providers and varying operating systems (OSs). From a Canadian market perspective, the new devices should help ...
Microsoft's Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) delivers a much-needed update in functionality to Microsoft's virtual desktop solutions and points to an AI-first design paradigm for the end-user client that is divorced from the constraints of ...
Microsoft this week reiterated its strong commitment to its Surface hardware portfolio by announcing a long list of updated and new products. In October, it will ship the Surface Pro 7 detachable and 13in. Surface Laptop, both featuring ...
Even though OpenStack is the predominant virtual infrastructure management platform in carriers (500 carriers use OpenStack out of a total universe of 600 by IDC's estimate), Red Hat realizes the future for carrier network hybrid clouds ...
Recent news from Disney and Apple regarding highly anticipated new over-the-top (OTT) video services underscores how the OTT video market will continue to grow amid the decline of traditional pay TV.
Comcast announced that it will provide its Xfinity Flex streaming video service, free of charge, to Xfinity internet-only subscribers. The service brings aggregated video services to single-play subscribers.
On September 10, Apple unveiled its iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max; Apple Watch Series 5; and its 7th generation iPad, all just in time for the holiday quarter. Altogether, these new devices show modest technical improvements ...
Qualcomm is hitting hard with powerful, fully featured Wi-Fi 6 chipsets for infrastructure such as access points. These products will give Qualcomm an edge in the enterprise Wi-Fi infrastructure market as well as the consumer mesh Wi-Fi ...
On September 10, at its annual September product event, Apple launched three new iPhones — the iPhone 11, the iPhone 11 Pro, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max — the Apple Watch Series 5 and the new 7th generation iPad 10.2in. The big surprise, however, ...
On August 26, 2019, tandem updates to their Chrome OS portfolio. Google revealed a multitude of updates to the OS, as well as the management console, while Dell announced it was integrating Chrome OS into the Latitude brand and its broader ...
On August 13, 2019, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it would move the effective date of 10% tariffs applied to some of the List 4 goods imported from China (which includes mobile phones, notebooks, monitors, ...
On August 15, Lenovo announced results from its fiscal 1Q20 ending June 30, with revenue reaching $12.5 billion, up 5% year over year (YoY), resulting in a net income increase to $162 million. Once again, the company's Intelligent Devices ...
On Thursday, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note10, the slightly larger Galaxy Note10+, and a 5G variant of the Galaxy Note10+. Along for the ride were two devices that Samsung previously announced — the Galaxy Tab S6 and the Galaxy Watch Active2 ...