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Customer focus

Posted by: rparker
Date posted: Tue, 17 Jun 1997

Sean is essentially correct. Here's the long answer. The InfoWorld newspaper is divided into client, server, networking, and Internet news sections (there are also some demographic sections, such as TelecomWorld, and Networking Reviews, they appear on InfoWorld Electric, but the print editions are only delivered to readers specifying interest in those topics). We divided up our coverage into these sections following years of using the more traditional -- but we thought outdated -- categories of hardware, software, networks. Our thinking is that IS managers and their staffs tend to specialize in different operational areas: Some specialize in the client desktop -- and all the things that an end-user may need there. Others specialize in the server -- the operating system, the server hardware, database systems that reside on the server, and so on. Networking specialists, we believe, care most about the routers, switches, and other network devices (including network printers). Grouping all hardware together, for instance, meant that readers who manage and maintain servers were having to weed through articles on desktop gear -- monitors, modems, Zip drives, and so on.

This philosophy has extended also into our product comparisons and reviews. When we are developing a test plan for, say, network monitoring software, we try to put ourselves in the role of a network administrator and ask what information he or she needs to know about a product, what makes the product useful or not, and does it really solve a problem. (Note, we do not cross product categories when comparing products; network printers are compared to other network printers, NICs to NICs, etc.)

In developing our Product of the Year categories, we used the same principles: Client products are those that generally are used by single users at their workstations -- yes, you can use them on the network, but generally speaking; server products are server operating systems, databases, and server hardware. Networking products are the necessary NICs, routers, switches, etc. as well as network administration and management tools. Internet includes browsers, but also includes HTML editors, Java tools, and Web authoring tools.

So, the categories of the Readers Choice should not be surprising to those who read InfoWorld. We used the same categorization and applied the same criteria that we do in both news and Reviews and Testing. We did not add categories, as someone on the forum has, because we did not want to present readers with too long a ballot. Long ballots have traditionally had poor response rates.

This approach is unusual, but I think that it reflects -- again -- our focus helping those who actually install, run and maintain corporate networks. It has received strong positive feedback from readers who are IS managers.

Rachel Parker
Guest Host



Thank you. (imric) Tue, 17 Jun

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