International Data Corp.(IDC)

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INTERNATIONAL DATA CORP.(IDC)

With more than 45 offices worldwide, roughly 800 employees, and sales of approximately $150 million, International Data Corp. (IDC) is an information technology (IT) market research, analysis, and consulting leader. The firm's wide ranging research covers all aspects of the IT industry, including operating systems, PCs, peripheral equipment, semiconductors, software, services, telecommunications products, distribution channels, and the Internet. IDC's 3,900 clients—mainly IT professionals, IT suppliers, e-business executives, service suppliers, investment professionals, and corporate managers—have access to various information services, conferences, and research documents, many of which are available for purchase at IDC's online store. Those who opt for customized consulting appointments with IDC analysts may seek assistance with business strategy development, product development, assessment of competition, creation and achievement of marketing goals, and evaluation of potential alliances and purchases. Based in Framingham, Massachusetts, IDC operates as a subsidiary of International Data Group, the largest technology publisher in the world with sales of more than $3 billion and 12,000 employees.

IDC was founded in 1964 by Patrick J. McGovern, a biophysics graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), to offer IT statistics to the fledgling computer industry. While earning his degree at MIT, McGovern had worked as the associate editor for Computers and Automation, the first computer magazine published in the United States. When he graduated in 1959, McGovern had been promoted to associate publisher, a position he held for the next five years.

In 1967, IDC began publishing Computerworld, a weekly newspaper covering the computer industry. Eventually, publishing became the firm's main focus. By 1970, McGovern had moved his publishing activities—which eventually would include industry giants like PC World, MacWorld, Network World, and CIO —into a new entity called International Data Group (IDG). It was under this parent that IDC began to operate as a subsidiary.

The firm conducted its first industry briefing session in 1968. IDC expanded internationally for the first time in 1969, when it established an office in the United Kingdom. Six years later, the firm moved into both Germany and Japan. IDC bought Link Resources Corp. in 1980. Within three years, 13 offices were in operation, including units in Spain, France, Italy, Sweden, and Norway. IDC created IDC China Ltd. in 1986. By the end of the decade, the firm also had moved into Canada, Korea, and Latin America.

Kirk Campbell was named IDC president and CEO in 1990. IDC held its first European IT Forum in Venice, Italy, in 1991; roughly 200 industry professionals attended. International expansion continued the following year with the establishment of new offices in Greece, Nigeria, Turkey, South Africa, and Egypt. The firm conducted its Global New Media survey for the first time in 1995. Participants from 13 different countries were queried. That year, IDC created a subsidiary in Brazil. Aggressive growth efforts persisted in 1996 with the creation of a market research office in Moscow, Russia, and a Latin American research center in Miami, Florida. Sales that year reached roughly $100 million. By then, the firm was operating offices in 400 countries, employing 300 market researchers, and generating more than 2,000 IT market surveys each year.

Wanting to grant clients 24-hour access to its information, IDC launched its Internet-based IDCNet service in 1997. The firm conducted its first forum for Internet executives the following year. Sales in 1999 grew another 22 percent, and the firm's workforce grew by 17 percent to nearly 600. IDC began offering free IT industry newsletters, including e-Business Trends and xSP Advisor, via e-mail in 2000. Archived newsletter articles also were made available on IDC's Web site. The firm's rapid growth finally came to a halt that year as the dot-com meltdown undercut the need for e-commerce market research, prompting IDC to lay off numerous e-commerce analysts in 2001.