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Archive for the ‘Forecasting’ Category« Previous EntriesBeware, Your Business Is At Risk!Friday, August 31st, 2012  Recent research by B2B International for Kaspersky Lab shows that protecting against cyber-threats is one of the most important tasks facing all types of businesses (SMEs and Enterprise). Viruses, spam, software vulnerabilities and careless handling of confidential information are just some of the problems faced by IT professionals on a regular basis. A growing problem that was more evident in 2012 is the management of employees accessing the corporate IT infrastructure with their personal mobile devices. In terms of actions that companies can take, increasing the level of computer literacy among staff is an essential along with making sure top management are fully aware of the potential consequences of cyber-threats. Currently only half of the experts in the 2012 survey feel their company is ready to face today’s cyber-threats. To read the report in more detail please visit: About the research: In 2011 Kaspersky Lab, in partnership with B2B International, carried out a survey covering IT professionals working for large and medium-sized businesses. The aim of the survey was to find out what IT specialists thought of corporate security solutions, to ascertain their level of knowledge about current threats, the sort of problems they most often face, their ability to evaluate the risks associated with cyber-threats, etc. A year later, the two companies conducted a similar survey expanding the geography and the number of respondents. This gave us the opportunity not only to assess the situation in the sphere of corporate security in 2012 but also to compare the results with those obtained the previous year and to note the main trends. About Kaspersky Lab: Kaspersky Lab is a leading developer of secure content and threat management solutions and was recently named Beyond the BRICSTuesday, August 7th, 2012  As highlighted in a recent AdAge article, global expansion has, for much of the past decade, seemingly begun and ended with the BRICs – Brazil, Russia, India and China. Now, however, questions are being asked about both the stability and growth potential for some of those four countries, not to mention the growing appeal among others not on the list – including Indonesia and Vietnam. While it has to be said that some commentators profoundly disagree with those questioning the growth potential of the BRICS, others make the following arguments:
To read the original article in full, please visit: Growth lies building brics/235254/ And, of course, to find out how we can assess the markets with most potential for your business, please visit www.b2binternational.com/research-and-intelligence/market-assessment/ or contact (http://www.b2binternational.com/contact-b2b/) your nearest B2B International office. B2B Industry Confidence Is High From The New B2B BarometerFriday, June 15th, 2012  The B2B Barometer – the bi-annual ‘state of the nation’ survey for B2B marketers – has just launched its sixth wave, reporting client-side marketers and agencies are feeling positive about business over the coming year. Backed by three years of historical data on B2B marketing, the survey collates the views of client and agency side marketers, and gives a bird’s eye view on what’s important in the world of B2B. Results of this wave were surprisingly positive given the tough economic climate. A massive 80% of respondents interviewed (client and agency side) expressed confidence in their organisations’ outlook for the next 12 months – the highest figure ever recorded in the Barometer. This confidence is being driven by positive performance over the last year as well as signs of life for the next six months, with 61% of agencies reporting rising revenues and 63% seeing more new business enquiries during the past 12 months. 48% of client-side marketers expect their B2B marketing budgets to rise in the next 12 months – only serving to spur on this positive feeling within the industry. To see the full report please go to http://www.b2bbarometer.co.uk/ Save The Company Of The Future!Thursday, January 19th, 2012  Innovators Stand Firm:A Modern Day David Vs Goliath Looking around the internet yesterday, as researchers, things were a little different. Wikipedia was blacked out, Google had its logo blacked out and Twitter was alive with SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) talk. SOPA was created to promote prosperity, creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation by combating the theft of US property. However, opponents to SOPA argue that it will do exactly the opposite in that it violates freedom of speech, internet censorship and will therefore cripple the internet as we know it. SOPA is a prime example of how big companies (especially within the music and film industry) are trying to do everything they can to stop innovation (so say the technology companies). Is this a modern day example of David Vs Goliath where the larger ‘Goliath’ companies are unwilling to accept change whilst the innovative companies and start-ups are encompassing change? Larger companies typically innovate around business processes to take cost out of the system. However, innovation aligned with technological change that could involve turning the way a company carries out its business on its head is often rebuffed by large companies due to upheaval and uneasiness (with shareholder apprehension another reason) Conversely think of the most successful modern day companies and most of these are technology companies eg Microsoft, Apple, Facebook & Google. These companies have rewritten industry rules in which they play, doing things differently to deliver value to the end customer. It is therefore no surprise that technology companies oppose SOPA as their roots are in start-ups where innovation is the main driving force behind their business success. Innovation comes from experimentation and needs creativity and destruction in equal measure – in order to create you need to destroy what has gone before. So what if the Internet was censored – would this limit innovation? I think the answer is a resounding Yes! Technology has created a third state that allows us as individuals to work alone as well as together. The company of the future will be narrow (focused on one particular specialism), hollow (use partners instead of reliant on in-house skills), flatter (not as many levels of management), creative driven and international (borders don’t get in the way of business any more). Therefore, if the internet and social media are suppressed then so is the power of smaller businesses. Thinking about what impact this might have on our economy, if we take the UK as an example and think back to The Big Society,which was the flagship policy idea of the 2010 Conservative Party’s general election manifesto, SMEs were identified as playing a fundamental role in getting the UK economy back on track. If SME growth is hampered in any way, this will impact greatly on the growth engine of the UK and result in slow progress in climbing out of the current downturn. Also, taking the land of the free (USA) as another example, innovation is at the heart of how they came to dominate the world. However, times are a-changing and China, with all their cost advantages, will quickly supersede them as the global superpower (if they haven’t already done so). Therefore, you could argue that the only advantage the US has over China is innovation and if legislation starts to hamper SMEs then growth will slowly grind to a halt. Taking all this into account, what does it mean for the future? In one sentence, if we stop innovation and continue to do what we have always done then we will always get what we have always got….if we are lucky! For information on innovation and new product development visit our website. Virtual RealityMonday, June 6th, 2011  OK – so you might not be all that surprised when a company that organizes virtual events releases figures announcing that 60% of U.S. marketers plan to increase their spending on…you guessed it – virtual events. But it’s certainly hard to deny the increasing importance and influence that technology has on the way we all work and conduct business nowadays. Unisfair’s research, conducted online last month with more than 550 marketers, also indicates that 42% of marketers plan to reduce spend on physical conferences and trade shows in the next 12 months. Highlighting the accessibility of virtual events, the study shows 27% of respondents to have attended these events from their beds, 11% from beaches or swimming pools, and 4% from airplanes! « Previous Entries |
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