Many
companies preparing for the new economy find themselves having to take a crash
course in all things related to the Internet.
Knowing
who uses the Web, the fastest growing areas and how much time people spend
online is for companies entering into
an e-venture. Fortunately, you can find most of the answers on the Net – but
knowing where to look can be difficult.
There are
several companies that monitor Internet activity and two of the most respected
and trusted are Forrester Research and Jupiter Media Metrix Inc. As with most
information, in-depth Internet data comes at a price, but both companies have
websites that give snapshots and highlights as well as some insight from recent
reports and studies.
Forrester
(www.forrester.com) is an independent Internet research firm that analyses
technological change and its impact on business, consumers and society, and is
particularly good for research on e-commerce. It is a US consultancy, but has
research centres in London, Amsterdam and Frankfurt so a UK and European perspective
can be obtained.
Jupiter
MMXI (www.mmxi.com) claims to be the world leader in market intelligence and
while this may sound grandiose, it is excellent for Internet usage statistics.
Check out the press sections of both for highlights of recent reports and
graphical data.
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Another
excellent resource is the website of the new media magazine The Industry
Standard at www.thestandard.com (click for US or Europe in the bar at the top).
Again, it wants you to be so impressed with its coverage of the new economy
that you will take a subscription, but its website offers a great deal of free
information and it has a dedicated workplace issues section.
If you
want to keep abreast of IT developments, The Register (www.theregister.co.uk)
is a free online news resource of all the latest hardware and software
developments, and general technology news. It also covers all the latest dotcom
crashes and its irreverent tone cuts through a lot of the hype and jargon that
surrounds the world of technology.
