About the OnForce OSMI article on the front page of The Force Field

I know that there will be a few OnForce providers who will raise their eyebrows over the publishing of the press release for the latest OnForce Market Services Index on the front page of the site today, especially in light of recent events. Yes, it is an OnForce-written press release and, yes, I did somewhat unofficially recuse myself from promoting OnForce. That was not the intention of the post.

While the OSMI is primarily aimed at potential Buyers and not Providers, it does contain a lot of information and statistics about the state of the industry that can benefit IT companies on both sides. It is a good use of their resources and, of course, it’s free.

I generally post the OSMI reports specifically for our own edification regarding industry trends, because, whether we like to admit it or not, OnForce, as do all of us collectively, do help shape and influence the overall marketplace.

The reason I posted this particular Q1 2009 report was primarily to use it as an additional source to compare it to our own data gathered from the four part series of The Force Field podcast we recently concluded on The State of The IT Industry.

The results of the OSMI closely mirror and quantify the data and upbeat outlook from all the guests on the shows. This certainly encouraging.

There is another important reason to check out the OSMI. If you look at trends withing specific areas of the industry that are listed, you will notice a few that seem to be poised for further growth. As you may recall, one of the reoccurring themes of the shows in the series was that of finding such areas in which to diversify in order to survive when times were slow in the areas you service.

If you study the OSMI you may find additional areas to move into that are still largely untapped or are potentially profitable and in which you can expand your businesses.

I know this seems somewhat hypocritical to post press releases for the company but I assure you that it is not my intention to actively promote the company. It is simply to take advantage of something they have that we can use to promote our own businesses. The OSMI is is a marketing piece for them and I understand that. It does, however have some statistical data that can prove to be of value to us all and I, for one, would like to make the most of it while we can.

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