Methodology
The core of Jupiter's analysis is the perspective of its research professionals.
Jupiter analysts are immersed in the industries they cover through ongoing contact
with corporate and technology leaders and daily study of trends and events.
Individual analyst perspectives are filtered through rigorous debate and
deliberation and backed by Jupiter's collective professional experience
to produce research that reflects the sensibility of the entire research team.
A dedicated team of data analysts provides the expertise that underlies the
insight of Jupiter Research. This group provides the data to rigorously test
analysts' hypotheses on the dynamics of the marketplace and business strategies
needed to succeed.
Research Process
Jupiter reports strive for vision, relevance, prescription, clarity and brevity.
To that end, we have developed a proprietary research process combining
the following:
Client Focused
A client network consisting of diversified global 2000 businesses, longtime
industry leaders and, more recently, emerged-technology and Internet innovators
drives the research topics Jupiter addresses. Ongoing interaction with such
companies helps the research staff prioritize the questions and concerns most
relevant to improving business performance.
Hypothesis-Driven
Client questions, industry trends and measurement data fuel the creation of
provable hypotheses. Analysts validate each report's hypothesis with a collection
of analysis frameworks, metrics, industry benchmarking, interviews and case
studies.
Report Council
Cross-discipline teams form a report council that meets throughout the course of
developing a report to vet ideas, challenge hypotheses and methodologies and
ensure overall quality.
Research Feedback
Upon completion of a report, a team of senior research managers review and offer
feedback to the lead analyst, basing comments on a rigorous and standardized set
of criteria based on client input.
Data Driven
Jupiter uses many internal and external data research tools to support or refute
analyst hypotheses and illuminate market trends. Jupiter's unique Data Research
Group assists analysts in the technical development and analysis of these tools,
including survey design, sample building, data weighting and data analysis.
Research Tools
Market Forecasting
Jupiter builds complex models to forecast user participation, costs and revenue
across an array of markets. These models identify key market drivers and
inhibitors, offering clients insight into upcoming changes in their sectors.
The forecasts go through a rigorous debate process and express the collective
judgment, relevant experiences and broad perspectives of Jupiter's analysts.
All forecasts, modeled by Jupiter's Data Group, are grounded in the
examination of analogous markets, online consumer behavior, market segmentation
analysis and historical trend analysis.
Primary Consumer Research
Jupiter surveys over 100,000 Internet users each year from around the world to
build a highly nuanced portrait of online consumers. Drawn from panels of over
one million Internet users, these samples offer a detailed and representative
view of the behaviors, attitudes and intentions of the online user population.
Jupiter's survey data are available throughout its research products, enabling
all clients to benefit from the insight and depth of the research.
Executive Surveys
Each year, Jupiter conducts numerous formal surveys of leading industry
executives to explore their current strategies, attitudes and plans for the
future. Benefiting from access to top decision makers, Jupiter executive
surveys summarize the perspectives of top executives in dozens of market
sectors.
Web Site Functionality Data
Jupiter analysts use WebTrack, a Jupiter-developed database, to measure the
uptake of various Web technologies and site features. Based on systematic,
quarterly research of nearly 300 consumer and business Web sites, WebTrack
explores the distribution of technology, services, content and functionality
among top sites.
Case Studies
Through regular interviewing of industry executives, analysis of public documents
and extensive secondary research, Jupiter puts together hundreds of case studies
each year. These write-ups identify the strategic direction, strengths, weaknesses
and key partnerships of major players in dozens of different market sectors.
The Jupiter Constellation Vendor Ranking Methodology
The core of Jupiter's analysis is the perspective and opinion of Jupiter's research professionals. Jupiter analysts are immersed in the industries they cover through ongoing contact with corporate and technology leaders, daily study of trends and events and sharing of their collective professional experience. Individual analyst perspectives are filtered through rigorous collective debate and deliberation, producing research that reflects the combined sensibility of Jupiter's entire research team.
The Jupiter Constellation is a vendor evaluation framework meant to help business executives make decisions about technology. The framework evaluates vendors along two primary dimensions: overall business value and market suitability. A third dimension represents the breadth of functionality for each vendor offering. Using a weighted scorecard, each vendor was evaluated according to the following criteria:
Market Suitability
>> Fiscal viability
>> Tenure in market
>> Ability to deliver on promise
>> Suitability for Web site search
>> Clarity of mission
Business Value
>> Client satisfaction
>> Strength of functionality
>> Pricing stability/predictability
>> Strength of architecture
>> Extent of business user toolset
>> Quality of typical deployment
Breadth of Functionality
>> Appropriate scalability
>> Robustness of computational linguistics
>> Overall feature set scope
>> Support for alternative relevancy
While the three primary dimensions remain constant across all Jupiter Constellations, the number, nature and weight of each of the subcomponents is specific to the field being considered. Jupiter analysts base their evaluation on briefings with the vendors, inquiry and other contact with customers, consideration of deployments, software demonstrations, Executive surveys, and other feedback from the field.
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