If you’ve followed CIMI Corporation and its views over the decades we’ve been active, you already know that one of our fundamental theses is that it’s about bucks, not bits. From the 1980s, the capital markets have become more and more a factor in the evolution of networking, and of technology products and services in general. This truth has been reflected in our own client base, which since 1997 has seen faster growth within financial institutions of some type than in any other market sector. Financial readers make up a substantial fraction of the subscriber base for our Netwatcher newsletter and the customer base for our special industry reports.

Responding to requests from our clients, both financial and non-financial, we have entered into a relationship with Eze Castle Integration, a prominent Wall Street software developer and integrator, to cooperate in the production of a series of research publications under the umbrella title of FocusTMT™. The research will be produced by a new company, Eze Castle Research (ECR), to which CIMI Corporation is providing consulting, writing, and forecasting service on a contract basis. This set of research products is targeted at those with an investor/financial slant to their interest in the technology market space. Unlike Netwatcher, which deals with networking issues, FocusTMT will cover the entire telecommunications, media, and technology market. Frankly, that’s a daunting scope to consider undertaking, but we think the move is important for a number of reasons.

First, networking is not a primary market. People buy networking to connect to something, and their need for network products and services is thus highly linked with their commitments in information resources, business practices, and the other things that create that need to connect. Netwatcher dealt with those broader issues peripherally; FocusTMT will do so very directly.

Second, financial conditions are increasingly driving even technology deployment decisions. The bubble was an example of a market without financial discipline. The period we are now in, and are hopefully exiting, is a complementary interval where financial discipline was excessive. Without an understanding of the financial markets and the way the best measure of financial confidence—the stock market—interacts with measures of fundamental spending and revenue trends, you can’t forecast anything, or prepare for what is to come.

Third, the interplay of these two factors make it difficult for even our networking clients to position themselves without considering what were traditionally “investor” issues and not marketing or technology issues. We want to serve our customers’ interests well, not only for ethical reasons but for business reasons. If they must move toward a more financially sensitive planning and positioning posture, so must we.

Our commitment to FocusTMT is our commitment to the investor/financial side of the industry, to the interdependence of all forms of technology on a common set of market drivers, on linked financial and regulatory motivators, and on each other. The research product set is targeted at the following specific segments:

1. Investment bankers, funds managers, portfolio managers, trust managers, pension funds, and professional investors. The publication is ideal for Wall Street professionals who need insightful TMT research directed at technology and demand trends rather than the dry examination of balance sheets. It’s especially attuned to the needs of the hedge funds industry, and to the financial industry’s increased call for independent research. We’re not intending to compete with traditional balance-sheet-and-valuation research, but rather to supplement it and put its findings into a market context.

2. Investment relations departments of public companies who want to track their own companies, their market sectors, and their competitors. Many TMT companies, and most smaller ones, lack critical data to position their company to the investment community and to optimize their relationship with the financial media. We will provide this data.

3. Venture capital, private equity, and buy-out firms seeking overall guidance on market and sector performance or reviewing individual companies as candidates for a buyout, or as a buyer for a portfolio company. We will be expanding our consulting and special project support for due-diligence projects relating to this community as a part of our overall TMT research process.

4. Individuals who qualify as “high-net-worth” investors under SEC regulations and who seek professional-level advice on the TMT market.

FocusTMT is a portfolio of publications and services available in a variety of packages. All of the publications are to be delivered in Adobe Acrobat PDF format via email. These products are produced and marketed by Eze Castle Research and not by CIMI Corporation, so further information on the products and pricing must be provided by that entity. You can go to the ECR website for more information, and to request samples or subscription pricing.

Thank you for your interest in this new research product.