Outsourcing, Investments, Security Measures and Videoconferencing: What European...

Outsourcing, Investments, Security Measures and Videoconferencing: What European Executives Think of Global Issues

Frost & Sullivan's Survey Reveals How EU Organisations Are
Changing in Relation to Four Key Issues
LONDON--(Business Wire)--
EU organisations prefer venture capital funds as a source of
investment. They also believe that outsourcing is a highly effective
way of reducing costs; however, some of them have concerns about poor
service and low quality output. And they have adopted various security
measures to counter terrorists' activities. Finally, they find
videoconferencing as a tool of communication which reduces costs and
travel time.

This is the picture that emerges from a study carried out by Frost
& Sullivan's Competitive Benchmarking Services team who evaluated
mobile communications and computing products and services in Europe.
The 42% of survey respondents are C-Level Executives, 44%
vice-presidents, 5% owners; the remaining 10% includes other
companies' representatives. The majority of the companies who
participated in this survey are from Israel (17%) and from the UK
(15%). The others are from Germany, France, Sweden, Switzerland,
Finland, and Italy. Of these 19% have revenues of USD100 million or
more and are mainly Information Technology and Telecommunications
companies. However, the list also includes organisations from the
manufacturing, healthcare, biotechnology/biomedical and consulting
sectors.

With this survey Frost & Sullivan's Competitive Benchmarking
Services team has analysed four key aspects of the mobile
communications and computing products and services sector: Laptop PCs,
Mobile Phones, Smart Phones, and Wireless Service Providers.
"Normally, our studies primarily focus on products and services being
tested, but we thought it might be interesting to also measure what
primarily European-based C-Level Executives think about higher - more
global - issues," says Frost & Sullivan's Tonya Fowler, Director of
Competitive Benchmarking Services. Fowler continues, "And by asking
these seemingly non-related questions within our survey, we have a
chance to draw further interest into the research, rather than just
asking survey respondents to rate this brand over another. It is nice
to have a forum - even if it is just a brand perception survey - for
people to share their thoughts and opinions about issues that might
keep them awake at night."

Investment. EU organisations prefer venture capital funds as a
source of investment. This is considered the best financing option,
followed by shareholders' contributions and private investors through
personal networks, while banks and other financial institutes are the
least preferred.

Outsourcing. The majority feel that cost reduction is the major
advantage in job outsourcing. But they also feel that it has other
positive factors, such as adding workforce in other countries;
potentially relevant, global exposure, and the opportunity to explore
new markets. However, poor service and low quality output is a matter
of concern to some organisations.

Security Measures. European organisations have adopted various
security measures to counter terrorists' activities. Data backup, many
levels of security in software and hardware, and the decentralisation
of data are just some of them.

Video Conferencing. This is considered an extremely useful tool
that considerably reduces both costs and travel time. European
companies also think of it as an easy way of transferring information
and an effective mode of communication. Video conferencing allows
face-to-face interaction with clients/business partners without
travelling. It is environmentally friendly.

Frost & Sullivan's panel of CXOs (C-Level Executives) was utilised
for this research and will be utilised for other upcoming CXO
research. If you would like to be a member of Frost & Sullivan's
Professional Forums, please visit http://www.FrostForum.com. There are
many panels in which to qualify beyond Frost & Sullivan's CXO Panel.
As a member of any of Frost & Sullivan's panels, one can wield
influence in the products and services routinely used, as well as
glean information that is happening in markets right now.

About Competitive Benchmarking Services

Frost & Sullivan's Competitive Benchmarking Services is a division
of the Customer Research team that conducts independent, non-sponsored
research among end-users to evaluate and measure companies that are
top performers for their products, processes and services.
Specifically, Competitive Benchmarking Services surveys respondents
that are deemed experts (i.e., CXOs, Automotive Technicians, Paint
Contractors, etc.) in the wide range of industries that Frost &
Sullivan supports.

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Consulting Company, partners with
clients to accelerate their growth. The company's Growth Partnership
Services, Growth Consulting and Career Best Practices empower clients
to create a growth focused culture that generates, evaluates and
implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over
45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies,
emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 30
offices on six continents. For more information about Frost &
Sullivan's Growth Partnerships, visit http://www.frost.com.

Frost & Sullivan
Chiara Carella, 0044 (0) 207 3438314
Corporate Communications - Europe
m: 0044 (0) 777 5936532
chiara.carella@frost.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008