IDC to launch independent India operations; cut 23-year link with Cyber Media

International Data Corporation (IDC), which has had a 23-year-old relationship with Cyber Media (India) Ltd, has decided to severe ties with the Indian company and establish a wholly-owned research business unit in Bangalore from March 1.

Cyber Media has been IDC's partner and representative in India since 1987. The new research business unit will enable the leading global provider of market intelligence, advisory services and events to provide more comprehensive coverage of the rapidly expanding information and communications technology (ICT) markets in India.

''India will be one of the most important technology markets in the world over the next several decades,'' said Kirk Campbell, president and CEO of IDC. ''Already a leading provider of technology services and now a sizeable and rapidly expanding market for both business and consumer technology products, India represents an emerging economy that every company in the ICT industry must understand.''

By expanding its direct presence in India, IDC will be able to deliver a greater range of research; the new unit will also enhance its capacity to support a fast-growing base of customers in India, added Campbell.

IDC expects total IT spending in India to double over the next five years, reaching more than $41 billion with particularly strong growth in packaged software and IT services. Similar growth is expected in the country's telecommunications services sector, with spending expected to approach $46 billion in 2014.

By the middle of the decade, India will be the third largest ICT market in the Asia/Pacific region, trailing only China and Japan, and will represent about 10 per cent of all ICT spending in the region.