How Reliable is Private Company Information?
Jinfo Blog

By Sophie Alexander

Abstract

As every researcher knows, easily available information on private companies varies a great deal by geographic region and there's often a concern about the provenance and accuracy of such information. A recent FreePint survey oexplored respondents' needs for private company information as well as perceptions of available information.

Item

As part of the Topic Series "News, and Other Commodities", FreePint recently conducted a survey, sent out to information managers working in our key markets, designed to better understand needs, perceptions and resources around private company information. Robin Neidorf highlights the result of this survey in her two-part article, "FreePint Research into Private Company Information". 

As director of research for FreePint, Robin is responsible for strategic planning, product development, relationship management, research and communications and regularly conducts FreePint surveys. 

Established Sources and Nimble Newcomers

The first part of Robin's article reports on the characteristics of survey respondents as well as their main  information suppliers.

Some of the more established sources, including D&B, Dow Jones and Westlaw, are mentioned but newer entrants such as Owler are also included, (see FreePint's recent Mini Review of Owler and Product Review of Westlaw UK).

Keep an eye out for forthcoming FreePint product reviews on other key vendors mentioned in the article such as EBSCO's Discovery and Business Source Complete Plus as well as Euromonitor's Research Monitor and PrivCo.

"A Poorly Understood Segment of the Information Marketplace"

The second part of Robin's article explores survey respondents' needs for private company information, both primary and secondary sources, as well as concerns around available information.

Respondents rated the importance of different facets of private company information to their work, some of which included:

• Corporate structures & ownerships
• Executives/personnel
• Financials
• M&A activities.

Readers can find out what other facets proved most important to respondents by reading Robin's article.

As she says "private companies of all sizes have always been important to researchers and the organisations they serve" and these results offer a "first effort to understand an important yet poorly understood segment of the information marketplace [and]... a baseline for considering what's available, what's needed and where additional development may be warranted".

Find Out More

In today's global market, the need to understand what data is available, how it's gathered and the best way to use it intensifies, so if you're a FreePint Subscriber, log in now to read "FreePint Research into Private Company Information".

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