Standardisation of ilr format and ilr for isv in usa

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A
PROJECT REPORT
ON
STANDARDISING THE FORMAT FOR ILR AND ILR FOR
INDEPENDENT SOFTWARE VENDORS IN USA
FOR
QED ENABLED SERVICES PVT. LTD.
SUBMITTED TO UNIVERSITY OF PUNE
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF 2 YEARS FULL TIME COURSE
MASTERS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
SUBMITTED BY
NINAD D. MORANKAR
(BATCH 2006-07)
BRACT S
VISHWAKARMA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT
S. NO. 3/4 BEHING LAXMI NAGAR, KONDHWA (BUDRUK), PUNE-411048

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am glad to introduce my project titled Industry Level Report for
Independent Software Vendors in USA for my MBA (Marketing) course.
I take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to MR.
ABHIJEET GANGOLI and MR. MILIND KATTI, the Executive Directors of QED
Enabled Services Private Limited for giving me this opportunity to work in this
project and guiding me through this project duration.
I would also like to thank my company project guide MR. SANTOSH
ABRAHAM, Manager Research Cell QED Enabled Services for helping me in
collecting and compiling data and preparing the report.
I would also like to thank Mr. Dilip Nath who has helped me a lot during this
project work.
This project could not have been completed without the guidance of our
Director DR. SHARAD JOSHI and my project guide PROF. MAHESH HALALE.
Last, but not the least to our family members who were always supportive.
Thank you!!!
Ninad D. Morankar

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INDEX
SR.NO PARTICULARS PAGE #
1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT . -
2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ... 1
3. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT ........ 4
4. COMPANY PROFILE . 6
5. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND . 19
6. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 27
7. STANDARDISED FORMAT FOR INDUSTRY LEVEL RESEARCH 31
8.
INDUSTRY LEVEL REPORT ON INDEPENDENT SOFTWARE
VENDORS IN USA ...
35
9. LIMITATIONS .. 50
10. CONCLUSION .. 52
11. BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 54

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
According to reports, Indian software industry s turnover is around US$ 10
billion by the end of FY 2005. The IT Export figures are US$ 23 billion which is 1/6th
of the total exports by India! According to leading reports, the projected demand for
trained I.T. professionals is estimated at over 400,000 per year. There is a clear
imbalance between the demand and supply of IT professionals with the result that this
sector offers one of the highest remuneration packages. With the Internet rapidly
changing the way we live, shop, entertain and work there is a tremendous scope for
entrepreneurs with radical new in this field.
The above paragraph clearly indicates the rapid growth in the information
technology sector in India. As we know India is a outsourcing hub for the leading
software companies in third world countries like USA and UK. IBM Executive
mentions Transforming your business to operate at this constant high level of
efficiency can be an enormous challenge. In conjunction with this new efficiency
requirement, there are two important things that you need to consider regarding your
company's information technology (IT) infrastructure. First, how well is your IT
infrastructure and second, how can you transform your overall IT function itself?
This led me towards the study of the Information Technology Industry.
Lead Generation is a part of Pre-sales process of any marketing company. I
approached QED Enabled Services which is a leader in lead generation and
technology marketing services. These days the activities are getting outsourced. QED
is a small scale and fast growing company in this field. I chose QED as I was aware
that I can learn more in a smaller organisation than a big organisation. QED Baton
is a brand name of QED Enabled Services. Research department is one of the
departments in QED Baton which is branded by the name GrapeVine. The
research cell in QED Baton was started just a year back i.e. in late FY 2004.
The presales department of a company needs to have the data about the
prospect customer i.e. a lead. This data can be generated by generating Company
Level (CLR) and Database Level Reports (DLR). The CLR and DLR generation was
a regular practice for QED. But for long term planning of an organisation, the
organisation needs to have information about the market or industry it operates into or

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intends to operate into. This created a need for generation of Industry Level Reports
(ILR). ILR is something which helps the companies in understanding the industry as a
whole; the current scenario, industry leaders, latest trends, the future, SWOT analysis
and what not! So, ILR is a much specialised kind of report for the organisation (i.e.
client of QED Baton). Here the competition faced is also very tough which includes
companies like Gartner.
Being a new field for QED, there was a need to have Standard format for
generation of ILRs. The standard format would make it easier to generate ILR for any
industry. The ILRs will be offered to the present clients of QED as a token of
appreciation for being their clients. These ILRs will also be used by QED as an
effective marketing tool to attract new clients!
So I chose this STANDARDISING THE FORMAT FOR ILR AND ILR
FOR INDEPENDENT SOFTWARE VENDORS IN USA as my project. I
worked on this project for three months from June to August. There I also learnt
generation of CLRs for continual requirement of IT companies.
This report generation is mostly secondary data collection on web by using
company websites of companies, news agencies and etc; search engines and web
crawlers.
As a result of this effort I came up with a standard format for ILR and prepared an
ILR on Independent Software Vendors (ISV) industry as asked by a client.

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OBJECTIVES OF THE
PROJECT

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OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT
1. Standardise the format of ILR.
2. Keeping the flexibility in ILR to change with respect to Client s requirements
and also benchmark the same with respect to industry standards.
3. Generation of an ILR for Independent Software Vendors in USA.

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COMPANY PROFILE
QED Baton
6, Shreenivas Classic,
Baner Road
Pune: 411045
Tel: 91-20-27290196
Fax: 91-20-25899915
A part of QED Enabled Services Private Ltd., QED Baton provides
specialized technology marketing services, the effective B2B Lead Generation for
Software Product and Services Companies. This SBU was effected in the year 2003
and since then, has worked with a number of software product as well as services
companies helping them penetrate new markets across the geographies of US, UK,
Europe, APAC, Middle East and Australia.
Realizing sales is literally a function of who understands the customer best and
who reaches the customer first. Through effective lead generation and sales
optimization services focused on Technology marketing, QED baton helps its
clients, by running the initial leg of the race and passing on the winning baton At
Baton, they deliver qualified leads to their clients using an optimum blend of various
direct marketing tools, ranging from email marketing, Cold calling and
comprehensive research. QED Baton provides Custom-tailored demand
generation services to the IT industry catering to Software product as well as
Software Services companies. With their delivery centre based out of India, they
provide clients a value proposition which the clients simply cannot ignore.

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ORGANISATION STRUCTURE OF QED BATON:

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SERVICES OFFERED
Lead Generation
Effective lead generation in the IT space extends beyond regular cold calling
into qualifying the business opportunity. In fact, in the Technology Marketing space,
every call needs to be preceded by researching the company, and every call is
customized so as to identify and address the potential pain points while prospecting.
Needless to say, this means that the executives working on client s account would be
well versed with the services/products client have to offer, and also the industry
specific characteristics so as use a consultative sales approach rather than mass cold
calling.
The Baton team works very closely with client s Business Development team
in its lead generation initiative, So as to become an extension of client s workforce.
It is literally like having client s own extended sales team working fulltime from a
remote location. Leveraging the capabilities and experience they have in the inside
sales field, along with the high level training that client would provide the team with,
The Baton team would strive to provide client with as many face to face/ telephonic/
webex appointments as possible. Client would soon see why it makes complete
business sense to have QED Baton as its lead generation partner!
Using effective methods based on market intelligence, QED Baton helps in
ensuring a healthy sales pipeline and faster time to market, thus ensuring
Sales Force scalability
Reduced Sales Cycle
Cost Effectiveness
Healthy sales pipeline
Exponential increase in market reach

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Direct Marketing
Direct Marketing is fast emerging as one of the most effective platforms for
lead generation and relationship marketing among organizations across industries,
Baton, helps client s organization in
Identifying databases of companies falling in client s Target Audience zone.
Executing personalized/ customised mass mailing campaigns.
Conducting a tele-follow up exercise to increase the effectiveness of the
campaign.
As a part of the Direct Marketing execution services, Baton takes on
complete ownership of the execution in terms of
Conceptualization of communication plan
Mailer design and production
Prospect list building
Mailer Fulfillment
E mail campaigns are fast emerging as an effective Direct Marketing
medium. Baton also provides Mass /Bulk mailing services. What client gets at the
end of this exercise is
A validated and well profiled database of prospects for present and future
reference.
A healthy lead pipeline
A fool proof marketing effort of reaching out and hitting a well profiled target
audience, thereby increasing client s market awareness.

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Event Enrollment
Seminars/ exhibitions / events are fast becoming effective tools in the Go To
Market strategy of most IT companies. Baton assists its clients in reaching out and
inviting the identified target audience for seminars/ conferences. Thus strengthening
Software marketing initiative. Even with the best theme, the best speakers, and the
ideal location, a seminar could be ineffective unless an appropriate list of prospective
attendees is available. A task far more challenging than what it simply seems at the
face of it.
Baton would take on the responsibility of :
Identifying the right target audience for client
Contacting the right profile of people within these organizations
Getting them to register for the event.
Post event follow up
Consulting
With years of experience in setting up lead generation cells for clients, Baton
has identified a number of key factors that help towards setting up a successful lead
generation cell. These would range from
Identifying the right profile of people for the function
Setting up processes for the execution of the lead generation cell
Training and knowledge transfer methodologies
Reporting structures
and many more ..
Clients can avail of Baton s services if they wish to set up an in house lead
generation cell, where Baton would help them establish the processes and monitor
the same till such time that the function becomes self sustained.

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Research Services
Effective technology marketing is heavily dependant on adopting a
Consultative Selling approach. The success of any marketing effort depends on
multiple parameters;
Are we targeting the right market?
Do we have the intelligence to address the key pain points experienced by the
market?
Is our value proposition customer centric?
Are we equipped enough to tackle our competitors?
Intelligence of this nature are the key influencers in the strategic as well as
tactical decision making processes vis-à-vis the Go to market strategy for any
technology company. Companies invest a huge amount in sourcing research reports to
augment their sales strategies, product development strategies and positioning
strategies.
QED Baton provides extremely high quality research services to cater to the
Market Intelligence needs of their clients. Their specialized technology research
cell The
Grape Vine helps clients to
Identify and define markets
Map and profile these markets
Map competition
Map potential prospects so a customized sales pitch can be developed to break
into these critical accounts
Armed with a strong team of Research Analysts, Grape Vine uses multiple
tools and methodologies to collate rich information that may not be available readily.
Using a blend of web researching tools and social engineering Grape Vine has been
successfully delivering value to its clients, both independently as well as by
complimenting the lead generation team.

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Company Level Research: An effective pitch leads to an effective sale. Client s
sale s pitch is always customized to address Client s prospect s need or potential
business problem. It is imperative to identify this potential by fully understanding
client s prospect and by being prepared with the relevant intelligence. Baton s
Company Reports can give a 360 degree view of client s prospect by providing
accurate and up to date stats like:
Size
Verticals (Area of Business)
Products
Right Party Contacts and Email Addresses
Company Financials
IT Landscape and Technology Stack
Business Drivers
Existing IT Vendors
Pain Points
Existing IT initiatives
Strategic Business Objectives

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Industry Level Research: Important strategic decisions are based on various factors
but the perception of the market is always influential. The Grape Vine would be able
to generate comprehensive Industry Reports that would highlight the dynamics and
momentum of the market, which would then be instrumental in planning Client s next
move. This would also ensure that client retains a competitive edge. The reports
would typically cover:
Trends in the Industry
Business and Technology Challenges
Existing Players
Positioning of different players
Opportunities for more/new/experienced players
Future Drivers and growth patterns
Pain Points

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Database Level Research (Database Building): Power up campaigns with
comprehensive and efficient lists, extracted straight from The Grape Vine. With
access to some of the largest web directories and research tools, Grape Vine provides
up-to-date lists and databases, keeping the Client s requirements and specifications in
mind. QED Baton would also supplement this with surveys and calls to map
organizations and hence, strengthen the lists. Grape vine also offers data cleansing
services where they ensure that the information on client s existing lists are accurate
and up-to-date.

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COMPETITOR ANALYSIS FOR QED BATON S RESEARCH SERVICES
1. Better Marketing
Better Marketing services are a lead generation company. They work very
closely with their customers to provide a robust and disciplined market development
team for delivering on their specific lead generation objectives.
Active Contacts business unit aims to fulfill this need with a suite of vertical
business contact databases targeted at the needs of specific companies that aim to sell
to specific types of decision makers. An ActiveContact database have deep rooted
contacts at director, manager and architect levels and truly delivers a lead database
that sales and marketing teams can benefit from.
2. Feedback Consulting
Company Services
Offering Value proposition Customer need addressed
Market
Feedback
Assessing
opportunities
Research based consulting for business to
business markets in India and select countries
Customer
Feedback
Beyond
Satisfaction
measurement
Stakeholder (Customer, Channel, Employee,
Vendor) 'satisfaction' assessment through face to
face interviews / web administration in India
and other countries
Implement
Feedback
Client s India
office
Roll out of desired initiatives in the Indian
market, including build operate and transfer
models.
Field Feedback Feet on the ground
Global firms wanting data collection to be done
in India
Global
Feedback
Harnessing
information for
business
Global firms considering India as an
outsourcing base for internet analysis on
markets and competitive intelligence.
Feedback 365 Client s partner 24
X 7
Extension arm of the customer in research
based consulting services

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3. IDC
IDC is the world's leading provider of technology intelligence, industry
analysis and market data to builders, providers and users of IT. It is the industry's
most comprehensive resource on worldwide IT markets, trends, products, vendors,
and geographies. IDC delivers dependable, high-impact insights and advice on the
future of e-business, the Internet and technology to help its clients make sound
business decisions. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading Technology,
Media, Research, and Event Management company.
IDC provides global research with a local flavour through more than 700
analysts in over 50 offices across 43 countries. IDC's customers comprise the
world's leading IT suppliers, IT organizations, e-business companies, and the financial
community. Business executives and IT managers have relied on IDC's advice for
more than 40 years, to make decisions that contribute to the success of their
organizations.
4. Market Insight Consultants
Market Insight Consultants, is a fully integrated research and consulting firm
with the capability to handle the entire gamut of research and consulting services such
as :
Problem definition and development of association framework
Survey Designing
Primary Field research with documented briefing / de briefing
Secondary Data research
Internet research
Data Collection by observation studies
Data Analysis
Inference Derivation
Option Assessment
Strategy Development
Implementation Planning
Training

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Market Insight Consultants offers tailor made and high quality services aimed
at improving market place performance of its Indian clients and facilitation of entry
into India for its foreign clients.
5. Opinion & Market Research Company
Data collection and processing are done in-house. In-house experts who have
access to various software packages provide statistical analysis.
Beyond QED Baton s own offices, regional alliances with other professional
research agencies in every major City enables quick turnaround of Client s studies.
This network gives client s local teams in as many as 30 centers across India .
SWOT ANALYSIS FOR GRAPEVINE
Strengths
Extensive Target Market Reach
(US,Uk,Europe,Australia)
Well Qualified Team of Research
Analysts
Provides clients with customized
Research according to the requirements
with respect to the various criteria s viz.
Territory, Market etc.
Weakness
Improper format for Company Level
Research Reports
Threats
Bigger & Experienced Players in the
Market
Opportunities
A growing need for Research Services

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THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF MARKET RESEARCH
THE MARKET RESEARCH PROCESS
Once the need for marketing research has been established, most
marketing research projects involve these steps:
Define the problem
Determine research design
Identify data types and sources
Design data collection forms and questionnaires
Determine sample plan and size
Collect the data
Analyze and interpret the data
Prepare the research report
Problem Definition
The decision problem faced by management must be translated into a
market research problem in the form of questions that define the information that is
required to make the decision and how this information can be obtained. Thus, the
decision problem is translated into a research problem. For example, a decision
problem may be whether to launch a new product. The corresponding research
problem might be to assess whether the market would accept the new product. The
objective of the research should be defined clearly. To ensure that the true decision
problem is addressed, it is useful for the researcher to outline possible scenarios of the
research results and then for the decision maker to formulate plans of action under
each scenario. The use of such scenarios can ensure that the purpose of the research is
agreed upon before it commences.

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Research Design
Marketing research can classified in one of three categories:
Exploratory research
Descriptive research
Causal research
These classifications are made according to the objective of the
research. In some cases the research will fall into one of these categories, but in other
cases different phases of the same research project will fall into different categories.
Exploratory research has the goal of formulating problems more
precisely, clarifying concepts, gathering explanations, gaining insight, eliminating
impractical ideas, and forming hypotheses. Exploratory research can be performed
using a literature search, surveying certain people about their experiences, focus
groups, and case studies. When surveying people, exploratory research studies would
not try to acquire a representative sample, but rather, seek to interview those who are
knowledgeable and who might be able to provide insight concerning the relationship
among variables. Case studies can include contrasting situations or benchmarking
against an organization known for its excellence. Exploratory research may develop
hypotheses, but it does not seek to test them. Exploratory research is characterized by
its flexibility.
Descriptive research is more rigid than exploratory research and seeks
to describe users of a product, determine the proportion of the population that uses a
product, or predict future demand for a product. As opposed to exploratory research,
descriptive research should define questions, people surveyed, and the method of
analysis prior to beginning data collection. In other words, the who, what, where,
when, why, and how aspects of the research should be defined. Such preparation
allows one the opportunity to make any required changes before the costly process of
data collection has begun.
There are two basic types of descriptive research: longitudinal studies
and cross-sectional studies. Longitudinal studies are time series analyses that make

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repeated measurements of the same individuals, thus allowing one to monitor
behavior such as brand-switching. However, longitudinal studies are not necessarily
representative since many people may refuse to participate because of the
commitment required. Cross-sectional studies sample the population to make
measurements at a specific point in time. A special type of cross-sectional analysis is
a cohort analysis, which tracks an aggregate of individuals who experience the same
event within the same time interval over time. Cohort analyses are useful for long-
term forecasting of product demand.
Causal research seeks to find cause and effect relationships between
variables. It accomplishes this goal through laboratory and field experiments.
Data Types and Sources
Secondary Data:
Before going through the time and expense of collecting primary data,
one should check for secondary data that previously may have been collected for
other purposes but that can be used in the immediate study. Secondary data may be
internal to the firm, such as sales invoices and warranty cards, or may be external to
the firm such as published data or commercially available data. The government
census is a valuable source of secondary data.
Secondary data has the advantage of saving time and reducing data
gathering costs. The disadvantages are that the data may not fit the problem perfectly
and that the accuracy may be more difficult to verify for secondary data than for
primary data.
Some secondary data is republished by organizations other than the
original source. Because errors can occur and important explanations may be missing
in republished data, one should obtain secondary data directly from its source. One
also should consider who the source is and whether the results may be biased.

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There are several criteria that one should use to evaluate secondary data.
Whether the data is useful in the research study.
How current the data is and whether it applies to time period of
interest.
Errors and accuracy - whether the data is dependable and can be
verified.
Presence of bias in the data.
Specifications and methodologies used, including data collection
method, response rate, quality and analysis of the data, sample size and
sampling technique, and questionnaire design.
Objective of the original data collection.
Nature of the data, including definition of variables, units of measure,
categories used, and relationships examined.
Primary Data:
Often, secondary data must be supplemented by primary data
originated specifically for the study at hand. Some common types of primary data are:
Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics
Psychological and lifestyle characteristics
Attitudes and opinions
Awareness and knowledge - for example, brand awareness
Intentions - for example, purchase intentions. While useful, intentions
are not a reliable indication of actual future behavior.
Motivation - a person's motives are more stable than his/her behavior,
so motive is a better predictor of future behavior than is past behavior.
Behavior
Primary data can be obtained by communication or by observation.
Communication involves questioning respondents either verbally or in writing. This
method is versatile, since one needs only to ask for the information; however, the
response may not be accurate. Communication usually is quicker and cheaper than
observation. Observation involves the recording of actions and is performed by either

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a person or some mechanical or electronic device. Observation is less versatile than
communication since some attributes of a person may not be readily observable, such
as attitudes, awareness, knowledge, intentions, and motivation. Observation also
might take longer since observers may have to wait for appropriate events to occur,
though observation using scanner data might be quicker and more cost effective.
Observation typically is more accurate than communication.
Personal interviews have an interviewer bias that mail-in
questionnaires do not have. For example, in a personal interview the respondent's
perception of the interviewer may affect the responses.
Sampling Plan
The sampling frame is the pool from which the interviewees are
chosen. The telephone book often is used as a sampling frame, but have some
shortcomings. Telephone books exclude those households that do not have telephones
and those households with unlisted numbers. Since a certain percentage of the
numbers listed in a phone book are out of service, there are many people who have
just moved who are not sampled. Such sampling biases can be overcome by using
random digit dialing. Mall intercepts represent another sampling frame, though there
are many people who do not shop at malls and those who shop more often will be
over-represented unless their answers are weighted in inverse proportion to their
frequency of mall shopping.
In designing the research study, one should consider the potential
errors. Two sources of errors are random sampling error and non-sampling error.
Sampling errors are those due to the fact that there is a non-zero confidence interval
of the results because of the sample size being less than the population being studied.
Non-sampling errors are those caused by faulty coding, untruthful responses,
respondent fatigue, etc.
There is a tradeoff between sample size and cost. The larger the sample
size, the smaller the sampling error but the higher the cost. After a certain point the
smaller sampling error cannot be justified by the additional cost.

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While a larger sample size may reduce sampling error, it actually may
increase the total error. There are two reasons for this effect. First, a larger sample
size may reduce the ability to follow up on non-responses. Second, even if there are a
sufficient number of interviewers for follow-ups, a larger number of interviewers may
result in a less uniform interview process.
Data Collection
In addition to the intrinsic sampling error, the actual data collection
process will introduce additional errors. These errors are called non-sampling errors.
Some non-sampling errors may be intentional on the part of the interviewer, who may
introduce a bias by leading the respondent to provide a certain response. The
interviewer also may introduce unintentional errors, for example, due to not having a
clear understanding of the interview process or due to fatigue.
Respondents also may introduce errors. A respondent may introduce
intentional errors by lying or simply by not responding to a question. A respondent
may introduce unintentional errors by not understanding the question, guessing, not
paying close attention, and being fatigued or distracted.
Such non-sampling errors can be reduced through quality control
techniques.
Data Analysis - Preliminary Steps
Before analysis can be performed, raw data must be transformed into
the right format. First, it must be edited so that errors can be corrected or omitted. The
data must then be coded; this procedure converts the edited raw data into numbers or
symbols. A codebook is created to document how the data was coded. Finally, the
data is tabulated to count the number of samples falling into various categories.
Simple tabulations count the occurrences of each variable independently of the other
variables. Cross tabulations, also known as contingency tables or cross tabs, treats
two or more variables simultaneously. However, since the variables are in a two-
dimensional table, cross tabbing more than two variables is difficult to visualize since

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more than two dimensions would be required. Cross tabulation can be performed for
nominal and ordinal variables.
Cross tabulation is the most commonly utilized data analysis method in marketing
research. Many studies take the analysis no further than cross tabulation. This
technique divides the sample into sub-groups to show how the dependent variable
varies from one subgroup to another. A third variable can be introduced to uncover a
relationship that initially was not evident.
Marketing Research Report
The format of the marketing research report varies with the needs of
the organization. The report often contains the following sections:
Authorization letter for the research
Table of Contents
List of illustrations
Executive summary
Research objectives
Methodology
Results
Limitations
Conclusions and recommendations
Appendices containing copies of the questionnaires, etc.
Concluding Thoughts
Marketing research by itself does not arrive at marketing decisions, nor
does it guarantee that the organization will be successful in marketing its products.
However, when conducted in a systematic, analytical, and objective manner,
marketing research can reduce the uncertainty in the decision-making process and
increase the probability and magnitude of success.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Methodology consists of Inductive (simulation), qualitative and
quantitative research procedures and employing triangulation (comparing real world
effective teams to interrogate the social network organizational model).
Research Methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem.
We can say that the research methodology has many dimensions and research
methods do constitute a part of research methodology. When we talk about research
methodology we not only talk of the research methods but also the logic behind the
methods we use in the context of the research study and explain why we are using a
particular method or technique and why we are not using others so that research
results are capable of being evaluated either by the researcher himself or by others.
QED Baton has its own methodology to go about the report preparation which
eventually formed the research methodology for my project work. The same process
is developed below:
RESEARCH PROCESS USED
1. Identification of market / Industry to be researched
ILR requirement is communicated by the client. The client requirements are
studied, a discussion with senior manager and research head. This discussion
results in a way of doing the research, the parameters to be looked for, the
depth of data collection and analysis. The most important decision is
concentration on the market segments to be concentrated and researched on so
as all the segments or sections of the market are covered as expected by the
client. Actually the client instructs about the criterion for the report generation;
but this identification of subsections and industry types helps towards
increased efficiency and effectiveness of the report generation.

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2. Identifying research sources
After the guidelines are available, the approach is decided, the availability of
sources is checked with respect to their feasibility or suitability for the specific
campaign.
3. Information gathering (i.e. Data Collection)
Once the sources are allocated (or the web sources to be used are decided),
one of the important tasks is already over. Now the important task of
collecting and segregating the useful data out of the huge pool of available
data on internet is done. This is a secondary data collection. If the process
needs to collect primary data, then the techniques like email discussions,
teleconferencing, discussions, interviews with the key personnel in the target
industry are carried out which forms an important aspect of the research as it
gives the inputs about the latest trends, where is the industry moving towards?
What is going to be the next thing? Information gathering is very crucial as
the data available on web is huge. The intelligence must be applied to go
through the available data, understanding the things, interpreting the things
and what not! The most important data must be searched must not be missed
under any circumstances. This needs specialised techniques in using search
engines and web crawlers.
4. Data Analysis
After the data is collected, it must be analysed carefully. Sometimes the data
collected might be just a repetition of the same data, sometimes the data
collected gives beautiful and crucial insights of the industry we target.
Sometimes the data collected may prove that the targeted industry is no more a
potential industry for the client. These inferences are very crucial as they save
a lot of time and money and management efforts might have been wasted if
the information was not made available. Analysis gives the insights of the
industry which helps in deciding the heads to be covered in the report.
5. Preparation of ILR Format
Data analysis is like summarising and inferring the collected data. Even
though it does not reach to any conclusion, it is the first step towards the

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conclusion. After the analysis is done, then is becomes feasible for the
researcher to prepare the format of the report (here ILR). The format of the
report is kept flexible till the time it is finalised. The format once decided may
be modified with respect to the requirements of the client.
6. Presentation to Internal team
After the initial format is prepared, it put forth to the internal research team
and the management. The individual researcher gives the presentation on the
format of the report which includes mentioning the client requirements,
decisions of the initial discussions, method used for data collection, some key
observations might be shared at that time if they are that important.
7. Corrections
The presentation to the internal team is followed by a question-answer session
where brain storming on the format of the report to be prepared is made, as the
format preparation is going to deicide the guideline for such further reports.
The corrections suggested are accommodated in the format of the report and
the report format is now Finalised and signed by the research team Head.
8. Report preparation
After the report format is available, any report is comparatively easy to
generate. The same process from step 1 to step 5 are repeated but from the
view point of generating a industry report based on the client requirements and
the format of the report. After the report is prepared by the researcher, the
report is overviewed by senior researcher or the respective account manager.
9. Final Report Preparation and delivery / presentation to the client
After the account manager is satisfied with the report, the final report is
drafted involving security measures for protection of the report. After the final
report is generated, it is either presented or delivered to the client.

- 37 -
STANDARD FORMAT FOR INDUSTRY LEVEL REPORT
1) Target Industry Overview:
Industry Segmentation
Size of Industry
IT Imperatives in the Industry
Number total players (Region Specific or General)
Major Players
Major IT Vendors
Industry Trends
External Business Drivers
2) Analysis of top 5 Companies in the industry:
2.1 General Information
Employees
Fiscal Year
Locations
2.2 Industry Information
Primary Industry
Secondary Industry
Tertiary Industry
2.3 Right Party Contact information
List of key decision makers (Campaign specific)
2.4 Services Offered
2.5 IT Landscape
General Information pertaining to ERP, SCM, CRM, anything in particular
pertaining to the campaign)

- 38 -
2.6 Competitors
2.7 Financial Information
Revenue
Profit
Net income
Parameter 1 (Pertaining to the Campaign, say any specific financial
information like Stocks)
Parameter 2 (Pertaining to the Campaign, say services offered to its existing
clients).
2.8 Competitive Benchmarking
Comparison 1: Revenue Analysis w.r.t. to competitors
Comparison 2: Net Income Analysis w.r.t. to competitors
Comparison 3: Any other (Campaign specific) financial analysis
Comparison 4: Industry trends & company comparison pertaining to the
above parameters.
3) Analysis of top 5 competitors (providing same products / services):
3.1 General Information
Employees
Fiscal Year
Locations
3.2 Financial Information
Revenue
Profit
Net income

- 39 -
3.3 Product / services details
Product / services Vis revenue break up
Latest versions of product in market and stage in PLC
3.4 Clients of competitors
Details of 3 clients of each competitor
Products / Services offered to each client by competitors
3.5 Competitive Benchmarking of Client with competitors
Comparison 1: Revenue Analysis w.r.t. to competitors
Comparison 2: Net Income Analysis w.r.t. to competitors
4) SWOT analysis of Client w.r.t. information available :

- 40 -
ILR FOR ISV
INDUSTRY IN USA

- 41 -
INDUSTRY LEVEL REPORT
FOR
INDEPENDENT SOFTWARE VENDORS INDUSTRY
IN
USA
OVERVIEW OF INDEPENDENT SOFTWARE VENDORS INDUSTRY IN
US :
No of companies: 50,000 companies
Total annual revenue: $180 billion
Giants such as Microsoft, Oracle, Computer Associates, Electronic Arts, and
others with more than $1 billion in annual revenue hold a combined 40 percent share
of the market, but the average software company has annual sales under $5 million.
More than half revenue generation is from sales of packaged products and the
rest from custom programming.
Packaged software products are generally small programs that can be installed and
operated by the customer without assistance. Business-oriented packaged products
may cost up to $10,000, but most consumer-oriented products cost less than $500.
Custom programming either creates a new software product from scratch, or, more
typically, customizes an existing software product for customer use. Custom program
products can be very large, costing millions, and may require special training and
technical support.
The US economy heavily influences business spending for software products.
The success of programming companies depends heavily on strong technical
expertise. The success of packaged-software companies depends on marketing
expertise and technical innovation. Small software companies compete mainly by
developing packaged products in small niches or producing custom products for
individuals. Because of the marketing muscle of large companies, many small
companies partner with them.
ILR (Industry Level Report) for ISV (Independent Software Vendors) in US

- 42 -
SECTORS OF THE ISV INDUSTRY:
1. PC Business Software
2. Networking Software
3. Multimedia and Graphics Software
4. Pre-Recorded Music and Video Software
5. Home, Leisure and Entertainment Software
6. Systems Software
7. Application Software
8. Security Software
9. Internet Software & Services
10. Embedded Software
11. Robotic Simulation and Control Software (RSCS)
12. Industrial Software
TOP FIVE COMPANIES RANKED BY THEIR REVENUE IN 2005:-
1. Microsoft
2. IBM Software (owned by IBM)
3. Oracle
4. SAP
5. Symantec Corporation
6. CA

- 43 -
ANALYSIS OF TOP 5 COMPANIES
General Information:-
Employees, Fiscal Year, Locations:-
Company
Name
No. of Employees Fiscal year Location
Microsoft 61,000 Dec-05 Redmond
IBM Software 329,373 (whole IBM) Dec-05 Armonk, NY
Oracle 56,133 May-06 Redwood City, CA
SAP 35,873 Dec-05 Walldorf, Germany
Symantec 16,000 Mar-06 Cupertino, CA
Financial Information:-
Software Revenue, Gross Profit, Net Profit of Top 5 Companies for FY 2005:-
Company
Name
Revenue
(million $)
Gross Profit
(million $)
Net Profit
(million $)
Microsoft 39,788 26,128 12,254
IBM Software 15,753 12,287 1,792
Oracle 14,380 6,449 3,381
SAP 3,558 2,308 319
Symantec 4,143 3,161 156
0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 40,000 45,000
Microsoft
IBM Software
Oracle
SAP
Symantec
Company
Million $
Revenue (million $) Gross Profit (million $) Net Profit (million $)

- 44 -
Product / services details:-
Product / services vis-à-vis revenue break up
Microsoft:-
Year Year / Revenue (million $)
Industry 2005 2004 2003
Microsoft Client 12,234 11,546 10,394
Server and Tools 9,885 8,538 7,192
Information Worker 11,013 10,653 9,113
Business Solution -803 -759 -631
MSN 2,274 2,216 1,953
Mobile and Embedded Devices 337 247 156
Home and Entertainment 3,242 2,876 2,748
-2,000
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
M
icrosoftC
lient
Serverand
Tools
Inform
ation
W
orker
Business
Solution
M
SN
M
obile
and
Em
bedded
Devices
Hom
e
and
Entertainm
ent
Industry Solution
Million$
2005 2004 2003

- 45 -
IBM Software:-
Year / Revenue (million $)
Industry 2005 2004
Middleware 12,552 11,968
Operating Systems 2426 2474
Other 775 652
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
Middleware Operating Systems Other
Industry Solution
Million$
2005 2004
Oracle:-
Year / Revenue (million $)
Industry 2006 2005 2004
Database and Middleware 14,380 11,799 10,156
Applications 3,381 2,886 2,681
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
Database and Middleware Applications
Industry Solution
Million$
2006 2005 2004

- 46 -
SAP:-
Year / Revenue (million $)Revenue according to software
solutions 2005 2004 2003
Enterprise Rosource Planning
(ERP) 1,480 1,266 1,024
Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) 770.87 640.48 562.5
Supply Chain Management (SCM) 650.71 613.63 571.44
Product Lifecycle Management
(PLM) 162 213.49 582.95
Business Intelligence/Supplier
Relationship Management (SRM) 207.1 187.92 349
Other Components 225 97.16 NA
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
EnterpriseRosource
Planning(ERP)
Customer
Relationship
Management(CRM)
SupplyChain
Management(SCM)
ProductLifecycle
Management(PLM)
Business
Intelligence/Supplier
Relationship
Management(SRM)
OtherComponents
Industry Solution
Million$
2005 2004 2003

- 47 -
Symantec:-
2006 Sales
Product/Service Million $ % of Total
Consumer products 1,388.60 34
Enterprise security 1,080.40 26
Storage & server management 793.80 19
Data protection 744.00 18
Services 136.60 3
Total 4,143.40 100
0.00
500.00
1,000.00
1,500.00
2,000.00
2,500.00
3,000.00
3,500.00
4,000.00
4,500.00
Consumer
products
Enterprise
security
Storage&
server
management
Data
protection
Services
Total
Product / Solution
Million$

- 48 -
Clients of Top Companies:-
Microsoft:-
CA Group
Serface technik
Brandlines
IBM:-
Contact Energy, New Zealand
British Columbia Automobile ssociation
Johny s Selected Seeds
Oracle:-
Metalsa
Hologic Inc.
Polpharma
SAP:-
Editorial Aranzadi
ESA
BWXT Y-12
Symantec:-
CAN Inc.
American Systems
EDS
Products / Services offered to each client by Top Companies
Microsoft:-
CA Group: Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, Microsoft Office
Professional Edition 2003, Microsoft Office Project Server 2003,
Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003, Microsoft Office XP
Professional, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Microsoft Windows Server
2003 Standard Edition
Surface Technik: Microsoft Small Business Server 2000, Microsoft
Windows XP Professional
randLines: Integration of Backend Solution on Windows 2003 Server
System integrated Server Software and standardised its desktop on
Microsoft Office System.

- 49 -
IBM:-
Contact Energy: IBM Rational Portfolio Manager to Establish
Alignment between Information Management (IM) and the Business
British Columbia Automobile Association: IBM Database Software
and IBM Server
Johnny s Selected Seeds: IBM Websphere content Discovery Server
Classification Module
Oracle:-
Metalsa: Oracle Financials, Oracle Cash Management, Oracle
Treasury, Oracle Enterprise Asset Management, Oracle Human
Resources, Oracle Self Service, Oracle Training Administration,
Oracle Payroll, Oracle Discrete Manufacturing, Oracle Manufacturing
Scheduling, Oracle Quality, Oracle Inventory, Oracle Warehouse
Management, Oracle Purchasing, Oracle Order Management, Oracle
Shipping Execution, Oracle Demand Planning, Oracle Release
Management, Oracle Advanced Pricing
Hologic Inc.: Oracle Financials, Oracle Assets, Oracle Financial
Analyzer, Oracle Cash Management, Oracle Quality, Oracle Discrete
Manufacturing, Oracle Order Management, Oracle Purchasing, Oracle
iSupplier Portal, Oracle Discoverer, Oracle TeleService, Oracle Mobile
Field Service, Oracle Depot Repair, Oracle Field Service, Oracle
Service Contracts, Oracle iStore, Oracle Internet Expenses, Oracle
Human Resources
Polpharma: Oracle Financials, Oracle Assets, Oracle Financial
Analyzer, Oracle Discoverer, Oracle Cash Management, Oracle
Process Manufacturing, Oracle Quality, Oracle Manufacturing
Scheduling, Oracle Supply Chain Management, Oracle Purchasing,
Oracle Order Management, Oracle Inventory Control, Oracle
Warehouse Management, Oracle Mobile Supply Chain, Oracle
Advanced Supply Chain Planning, Oracle Demand Planning

- 50 -
SAP:-
Editorial Aranzadi: MySAP CRM used to Increase Customer Loyalty
and Cut Costs
ESA: Integrated Field Sales Solution to support sales and and
consulting processes by using mySAP CRM
BWXT Y-12: BWXT Y-12 Uses SAP® Software to Redefine
Information Technology and Integrate Business Processes at the Y-12
National Security Complex
Symantec:-
CAN Inc.: Cuts email related support calls in half with Symantec
Enterprise Messaging Management solution.
American Systems:Realizes $87,500 annual savings with a Symantec
BindView solution.
EDS: Veritas Storage Foundation for Oracle, Veritas Storage
Foundation for DB2, Veritas Storage Foundation for Sybase, Veritas
Storage Foundation for Oracle RAC, Veritas Cluster Server, Veritas
CommandCentral Service, Veritas NetBackup PureDisk Remote
Office Edition, Veritas NetBackup, Symantec i³
Competitive Benchmarking of Top Companies:-
Revenue and Net Income Analysis of Top Companies for FY 2005:-
Company Revenue (million $) Net Income (million $)
Microsoft Corporation 39,788 12,254
IBM Software 91,100 8,000
Oracle Corporation 11,799 2,886
SAP AG 10,883 1912
Symantec Corporation 2582.80 536.2

- 51 -
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
90,000
100,000
Microsoft
Corporation
IBM Software Oracle
Corporation
SAP AG Symantec
Corporation
Company
Million$
Revenue (million $) Net Income (million $)
Net income and revenue comparison with respect to other Industry
Players
Revenue
(Millions)
Profit
Margin
Employees
Market Cap
(Millions)
Microsoft Corporation $44,282.00 41.20% 61,000 $245,814.70
Oracle Corporation $14,380.00 33.50% 56,133 $78,522.60
SAP AG (ADR) $10,866.60 27.30% 37,743 $54,377.90
Symantec Corporation $5,004.40 5.60% 16,000 $17,389.90
CA, Inc. $3,796.00 3.20% 16,000 $12,323.60
Electronic Arts Inc. $2,951.00 12.30% 7,200 $15,296.50
Konami Corporation
(ADR)
$2,258.90 1.60% 5,127 $3,416.90
Intuit Inc. $2,037.70 27.30% 7,000 $10,356.80
Adobe Systems
Incorporated
$1,966.30 31.00% 5,734 $18,446.90
Autodesk, Inc. $1,523.20 22.00% 4,813 $7,490.90
BMC Software, Inc. $1,498.40 16.60% 6,200 $4,966.40

- 52 -
Key Observation:-
1. The commercial software industry of 2003 was a $175 billion economic
engine with 2.3 million jobs worldwide.
2. Spending on R&D by firms in the software industry in 2000 alone was over
$12 billion and since 1997 has accounted for over $38 billion.
Spiraling R&D Costs, Rising numbers of software developers in the US are
crowding the software marketplace, with companies investing increasingly
into R&D in order to differentiate their products within the marketplace. This
increasing leverage on company capital to fund R&D will provide significant
liquidity risks for software developers in the US.
3. Software Development Industry figures as of August 3, 2006:-
Average revenue growth of top 500 companies in 2006: 19.9%
Average revenue growth of top 500 companies in past 3 years:
15.9%
4. Operating system sales account for the majority of the US software markets
revenues though security software is currently the fastest growing sector, with
Symantec and McAfee, the leading producers of security suites, producing
revenues of $1.2 billion and $570 million in 2003. The rapid growth of this
sector is a result of the increasingly complex threat posed by viruses in today s
computing landscape. The computer gaming sector has provided significant
income for the market in 2004 though escalating development costs and
increasing competition could stunt future growth.
5. Open Source With Linux demonstrating momentum within the operating
systems sector, and open source dominating the web-server sector, the trend
towards open source software is redefining the dynamics of the software
industry, threatening software manufacturers future revenues whilst reviving a
sense of innovation in the market.
6. Increasing PC Sales Escalating PC sales in the US, driven by the spiraling
online population and the growth of digital multimedia, have created
huge additional demand for computer operating systems, driving revenue
growth for software manufacturers.
7. Computer software developers have begun to outsource their hugely important
test-cycles to dedicated testing labs, concentrating their labor resources into

- 53 -
the company s core competencies. The trend will allow developers to obtain
an independent, experienced perspective of their product.
8. The US videogame industry has continued its significant growth in 2005, with
several leading software producers expanding into the sector to exploit the
huge revenues on offer whilst diversifying their product portfolios, thus
mitigating their risk to future market fluctuations.
9. In the United States the industry lost nearly $2 billion in 2002, and more than
105,000 jobs, more than $5.3 billion in lost wages and more than $1.4 billion
in lost tax revenue. In 2002, the global piracy rate was 39 percent and in the
United States, the piracy rate was 23 percent.
10. Based on current statistics and estimates, the software industry remains a
dynamic sector in the U.S. economy. The demand for software reached a new
record last year. That demand created a significant industry trade surplus and
allowed the software industry to contribute significantly to the U.S. economy.
Industry employment remains steady and pays above average wages to its
workers. Software industry wages not only help support all levels of
government through income tax, but also generate additional employment,
wage, and tax impacts when they are spent. Although the industry s impacts
are significant, they would have been even higher without piracy. New forms
of online piracy create new challenges for the software industry as it meets an
increasing demand for its products and consequently supports the U.S.
economy.
11. Annual Receipts of packaged software industry in the United States (US $
Billion):-
0
20
40
60
80
100
1993 1995 1997 1999 2001
Packaged Sofrware
12. Identity theft costs US businesses more than $48 billion annually (Source:
Symantec Corporation)

- 54 -
Concluding Remarks:
1. Sooner or Later, Even Linux Has to Turn a Profit (source: Gartner).
2. Mergers and Acquisitions becomes the trend in the industry.
3. Expansions into countries like Dubai, India and China is rising and will rise in
the next few years.
4. Outsourcing increases to increase the cost savings.

- 56 -
LIMITATIONS
1. The research being mostly dependent on secondary data (as the territory was
outside India, so it was not feasible to collect primary data to the extent it
should be).
2. Standardisation of ILR is for ease of development of the report most
effectively and efficiently; but the changing requirements of clients may
induce changes in the report from the standard format.

- 58 -
CONCLUSION
1. ILR format is standardised with the flexibility to accommodate the flexibility
needed to have continual improvements or changes which may include some
additions and deletions with respect to the changing customer requirements
and changing market or industry scenario.
2. Concluding remarks of the ILR on ISVs:
Sooner or Later, Even Linux Has to Turn a Profit (source: Gartner).
Mergers and Acquisitions becomes the trend in the industry.
Expansions into countries like Dubai, India and China is rising and will
rise in the next few years.
Outsourcing increases to increase the cost savings.

- 60 -
BIBLIOGRAPHY
www.google.com
www.gartner.com
www.firstresearch.com
www.hoovers.com
www.reuters.com
www.whois.com
www.jigsaw.com
www.marketwatch.com
www.wikipedia.org
http://finance.yahoo.com
www.finance.google.com/finance
www.microsoft.com
www-306.ibm.com/software
www.sap.com
www.oracle.com
www.symantec.com
www.quickmba.com
www.knowledgestorm.com
www.findarticles.com
www.secinfo.com
www.monster.com
Google Search and Rescue for dummies -by Brad Hill, Wiley Publishing,
Inc.
Research Methodology -by C. R. Kothari, New Age International Publishers

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