Consulting Tools & Methods

One of the key differences in the VDC Consulting approach, and an important driver of the success of our engagements, is the set of tools and methods that we use and share with our clients.  We use the term 'share' because we do not design tools that are transparent to us but opaque to our clients.  Rather, we share every aspect of the tool with them - the logic behind its creation, the mechanics of using it, the way to derive maximum value from it - so that they can revise it and redeploy it as they see fit.  We believe that our clients' maximum benefit comes not from the one-time application of a powerful tool, but, from integrating that tool into their core decision-making process.  

Examples of the tools and methods that we deploy and deliver in this manner include:

Target Surveys and Output Templates

A cornerstone of our work is out direct-contact, primary market research. This research is focused on gathering structured feedback from targets customers, prospects, channel partners and end-users. Working closely with the client, we begin by jointly defining the information that is most critical to the issues, opportunities and decisions they face. Working backward from this definition, we develop highly customized survey guides and output templates. The survey guides create the context for exchanges with interview targets - be they channel participants, customers or end users - that produces specific answers to most important questions our client faces. The output templates include profiles of individual contacts, companies, applications or market segments as the client requires, all delivered in a format that is of maximum utility for the client.

Market Estimate and Forecast Models

VDC Research's market estimate and forecast models are always developed using multiple stakeholder community sources in order to maximize their accuracy. Depending on the requirements of the assignment, the primary source of the modeling could be the primary market research we gather from supplier, end-user or reseller communities. However, multiple communities are consistently polled in order to verify each and every data point. Models may provide forecast trends in unit shipments, supplier revenue, and/or user consumption spend. To ensure that the output is actionable - and not just interesting - models almost always include multiple layers of granularity: applications within segments within verticals within regions, for example.

Stakeholder Maps and Profiles

As the tech markets outside single-unit-high volume core consumer and enterprise markets are fragmented, so too are their supplier communities, technical and commercial value chains and reseller networks. Each segment of a market in unique and so too is the stakeholder map we crate. Further, there may be multiple business models that describe leading, fast growing and otherwise exceptional participants in each of those segments. In order to help clients more accurately, deeply and powerfully understand who they are - or might be - competing or collaborating with, we build detailed, flexible maps of the markets that we cover. And then we open these maps up to our clients for their commentary - and in some cases, their own brand of customization.

Industry Development Scenarios

There is no singular, meaningful answer to questions about the future of any of the embedded, mission critical or high availability technology markets. The differing rates and directions at which they develop are a result of a complex interplay of science, market forces, human psychology, government regulation, investor interest, competitive strategy, and much more. Our industry scenario development tools help clients track industry trends accurately, and then translate them to their own businesses meaningfully. While the scenarios do not yield one specific answer, they logically narrow the list of possibilities, so that clients can focus and succeed.

Market Opportunity Fit Screening, Rating and Ranking

Ultimately our clients must have a high degree of confidence in the decisions that we help them make. They need to be able to trace their decision making backward, following a logic path where each branch represents a carefully considered decision that is based upon sound input. Only when leaders have confidence in their decision, and understand the supporting logic, can they win the full support of their teams. Our opportunity fit screening, rating and ranking tools produce this logic path, allowing our clients to trace the evidence and the thinking underlying their decisions. The power of this tool begins with the requirement to define what matters - and what does not. To define what the client can do - and cannot - within a given framework or context. The power of this process extends far out into the future, long after our teams have delivered their work product and the client team is assessing the early results of this new product introduction, or that target market campaign. Our experience shows that they will go back to the screening frameworks to review their thinking, revise their strategies, and improve their results - and accelerate or expand their success.

Please contact us to learn more about how VDC can help your company better understand its markets, identify new opportunities, and formulate strategies that drive revenue growth, margin gains, and increased market share.

VDC Research Group, Inc.
679 Worcester Road, Suite 2
Natick, MA 01760
508.653.9000
info@vdcresearch.com