The business of “Business Research” and the market for “Market Research”

Conceptually, there is hardly any difference between the two, the terminologies being used interchangeably. So, does it make sense to talk and write about something that has already been talked and written about in multiple platforms? The answer is - yes it does. However, the backdrop this time is different. I will not talk and discuss about the technicalities of the two. This post will focus more on the business aspects - the backdrop being the prevalent knowledge revolution in India.

“Market Research” is not new and it has been there in the Indian offshoring horizon for quite a sometime now. However, MR in India was mainly limited to consumer surveys by large MNCs like Gallup, AC Nielsen, IDC, Gartner, TNS etc. – the clients being the healthcare and consumer product biggies like Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble, Unilever and Colgate Palmolive to name a few.

On the contrary, the emergence of “Business Research” coincides with the evolution of knowledge revolution in India. It all started in the late - 90s when global organizations increasingly started viewing Indian IT organizations as Business partners and not just a bunch of tech geeks who can help them reduce their technology cost. The same global giants then started exploring the offshoring possibility of other knowledge intensive work such as MR. The strong existence of multinational biggies such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, McKinsey & Co., BCG, Frost & Sullivan etc. worked in favor of the Indian knowledge processors. The term “Business Research” was thus used to differentiate the pre-existing survey based MR services from the newly offshored business sensitive and functionally demanding services such as Market Engineering, Competitive Intelligence etc.

Then and Now – there has been a sea change in the way the Indian knowledge processors are perceived and talked about. As far as BR/MR is concerned diversification has become the rule of the game. BR/MR as a process has moved beyond the traditional RAS services (Research, Synthesis and Analysis services) to more high-end, sophisticated and specialized services like Market Analytics, Financial Analytics, Investment/Equity Research and Strategic Advisory.

Some leading Indian names that have led this movement include Evalueserve, WNS, Genpact, OfficeTiger, RocSearch, Grail Research, EXL Services, Pipal Research, SmartAnalyst, The Smart Cube, Aranca, Copal Partners, Integreon, and Netscribes to name a few.

Having said that it’s important to quote those multinational names that re-wrote the rules of the game and played a prominent role in making India, a knowledge hub - Frost & Sullivan, Datamonitor, Capegemini, Ernst & Young, McKinsey & Co. (McKinsey Knowledge Center), Bain & Co., Boston Consulting Group, IMS Health, and Accenture are some of those.

Interestingly, there are several companies who chose not to diversify and have been amazingly successful in the niche areas that they operate in. Some prominent of them are Inductis, MarketRx, Mu-sigma, Marketics, Markelytics, Fractal Analytics, Latent View Analytics, and Market Tools. Most of these so called boutique knowledge processors operate primarily in the niche and high margin areas of Market Analytics and Financial Analytics.

However, the Indian knowledge biggies have been quick in responding to the opportunities that these niche business services have to offer. The spree of acquisition deals that have been inked in the recent past is a definite recognition of the business value that these firms have generated in the recent past. The major deals that garnered decent media attention are the acquisition of MarketRx by Cognizant Technology Solutions, the acquisition of Marketics by WNS and the one of Inductis by EXL Services.

“Information Services” is the latest name that has emerged to cover the entire gamut of business and market information services that the knowledge processors have to offer. Essentially, it’s a broader domain that encompasses Market Research, Business Research, Investment Research, Equity Research, Financial Research, Market Analytics, Financial Analytics, Investment Advisory, Business Advisory and a host of other services.

Shakespeare says – “What’s in a name?” However, the pace at which the knowledge processors are diversifying their service offerings, this famous quote doesn’t have much relevance. A brand new name can thus never be ruled out. I go to the history book by coining one – IRA. IRA stands for “Information Research & Analysis”. The good thing about IRA as a services domain-name is its specificity in limiting itself to “Research & Analysis” only and its flexibility in accommodating the different functional sub-domains while keeping the core intact - mIRA for “Market Information Research & Analysis”, bIRA for “Business Information Research & Analysis”, fIRA for “Financial Information Research & Analysis”, eIRA for “Economic Information Research & Analysis” and so on.

RBBA (Research-basesd Business Advisory): The Process Flow