Business information users look east.

Byline: Bobby Pickering

Business information users look east

There is no doubt that B2B companies looking for information about potential rivals in new markets have been the biggest new driver in the business/company information market. And with the world opening up and markets opening out, that demand is rising ever faster.

Bureau van Dijk reports more demand for international data, especially European and Asian information. Marketing manager Louise Green says: "There is an increased interest in information for specific countries, notably in the Far East."

Philip Garlick, senior VP for global sales at Onesource, agrees. "Among our UK client base, more than 20% more subscribers last year than in the previous year are buying cross-border data either by subscribing to our global product or sourcing Asian or European information as an add-on."

The impact of the growing list of global and national regulations is changing the way whole companies conduct transactions, says D&B's marketing director Roger Hodson. "For a great many businesses -- including mid-sized ones based solely in the UK -- the marketplace is international. One of the biggest risks is dealing with counterparties in countries where there is either not much data or it is unreliable."

But not everyone agrees that a globalised product set is key. Perfect Information's MD Greg Simidian says: "It's less about globalisation and more about specialisation. The future of any vendor lies in being less generic and more about getting underneath the skin of a user, a department and industry vertical and obtaining a true understanding of your chosen customer, resulting in a tailored product solution.