Idc News & Articles

 Analyst firm IDC (news, site) has a complimentary report that outlines a Social Business Framework. If you find yourself still unsure how to tackle the whole issue of introducing social capabilities into your organization, this brief may be worth a read.

If IBM’s (news, site)  stock slid on Tuesday after it announced second quarter revenues that were a tad lower than market expectations, then no one at IBM appears particularly panicked as it still reported profits of US$ 3.4bn, up 9% on the same quarter last year and expects to finish off this year with revenues fully on target.

It’s probably no surprise that a recent IDC (news, site) report identified Autonomy as the biggest search and e-Discovery vendor in the market at the moment. No surprise, that is, because it just keeps adding to ways it provides companies with e-Discovery capabilities. The most recent is the introduction of its new Meaning Based Coding of e-Discovery.

You're concerned. You're vigilant. And you're intimate with your analytics. So you already know that the audiences you need to reach are finding you via many different devices and pathways. Your website is just part of the story.

The problem is, not many of us planned for that. The result? An inconsistent experience that provides no way to recognize and respond intelligently to your customer across all channels.

70+% of U.S. Consumers Are Multi-Channel Information Grazers

In some cases, the Internet is replacing older forms of media and buying. But in many instances channels are operating in parallel.

Forrester research found that in more than 70% of the cases studied, U.S. consumers who bought online supplemented their purchasing process with one of a number of additional information channels. These exchanges ranged from print materials, to emails, to call centers, to live chat.

Go Multi-Channel, But Intelligently

Perceiving your problem is the first step. Once you understand what the channels are, then you need to way to recognize each customer across them. After that, it's all about strategy, tools and execution -- ultimately leading to intelligent cross-channel experiences.

Technology provider CoreMedia figures they have something to teach you. They've teamed with leading IDC analyst, Melissa Webster, to talk about Expanding Your Online Strategy Beyond Your Website.

The live webinar will cover:

• 7 key principles for cross-channel digital strategy
• Approaches to channel-agnostic account management
• How your content management tools can create consistent, conversational experiences

You can join in on Thursday June 17th at 12pm Eastern time / 9am Pacific time. IDC's Melissa Webster leads the firm's Content and Digital Media Technologies research program. Register now and get a free copy of of Webster's most recent research on multi-channel engagement.

You already know that your website is an important part of your business strategy. But as devices and channels grow in number, it's not the only channel you need to focus on.

Unfortunately, in many cases the user experience across different touchpoints varies broadly and the results clunky or impersonal. Consumer frustration or confusion coming from poor experiences leads to a loss of confidence and potentially, a loss of revenues.

Aimed squarely at addressing this situation CoreMedia and IDC are holding a webinar on June 17th entitled Expand Your Online Strategy Beyond Your Website.

The goal is to detail:

• How to expand your strategy across multiple channels
• How to deliver consistent customer experiences across channels
• Tips for addressing the user context, not just the channel

IDC analyst Melissa Webster -- who leads the company's Content and Digital Media Technologies research program -- will present her findings on how best to address multi-touchpoint engagement, ensuring your strategy offers a consistent and conversational user experience.

The event takes place on Thursday June 17th at 12pm Eastern time (9am Pacific). If this is your cup of tea, you can pop on over and register here.

This week Google addressed the concerns about issues raised by information commissioners in ten different countries over privacy and Buzz, while data protection in federal agencies is also a concern.

Effective business decisions depend on having the right information at the right time. The use of content management systems across enterprises to manage information suggests that most companies agree.

Getting the right information to make the best decisions, however, is becoming increasingly difficult as levels of both structured and unstructured content increase daily. The goal of agile content management practitioners is to resolve that. Let's have a look.
 

While Xerox (news, site) may have made a first quarter loss this year, no one seems particularly bothered. That’s because it also reported a 33% increase in sales while the losses can be explained by the closure of the Affiliated Computer Service (ACS) deal giving Xerox real clout in the business process outsourcing market.

If Oracle’s (news, site) results for the third quarter are anything to go by, the IT sector may well have turned the corner on the recession. In figures released last night, profits for Q3 hit US $1.2 billion, with revenues up to US $6.4 billion from US $5.5 a year ago, beating analysts' forecast of US $6.3 billion.

There's no need to underline how bad the recession has been for SMBs. But there's light at the end of the tunnel as IDC predicts spending on IT is set to grow this year. Meanwhile, IBM is trying to grab the SMBs Microsoft has annoyed by discontinuing the Windows Essential Business Server.

Despite persistent global economic difficulties, a recent survey from technology consultancy IDC (news, site) shows that the world-wide storage software market continues to hold its own with 6.3% growth between Q3 and Q4 last year.

However, while the combined market for all top vendors increased by 0.5% in Q4 last year compared with Q4 in 2008, the overall picture is gloomier with a total contraction of the market year-on-year of 4.7%.

This week we turn back to social media and a new report that shows most companies are still only dabbling with social media as a business tool, while the Parallels 2010 conference confirms what most of us suspect: the SMB cloud market is going to be huge over the next five years.

Perhaps it’s a cultural decision; perhaps it’s a financial one. Either way, in the world of governance, risk and compliance (GRC), implementing regular business records destruction curtails data explosion.

The acquisition by Xerox (news, site) of business process outsourcing giant ACS has been given final approval after a majority of shareholders from both companies gave the go-ahead.

IDC (news, site) has a new research report available on growth of worldwide IT spending and while it's improving, it's not by much.