To succeed in today's competitive marketplace, a clear understanding of the dynamics of customers and markets is required. Failure to do so can be costly, both financially and in terms of damaged corporate image.

Realizing this, companies gather competitive intelligence from various sources such as newspapers, journals, trade magazines, books, and organizational documents. Of late, however, the Internet has emerged as an important source for the dissemination of information. Unlike other traditional information media, it is easily accessible, dynamic, and has a wide reach. With a single search option, thousands of documents can be sourced. Also, the information available on the Internet is from diverse sources. This has enhanced its use in the corporate sector.

On the other hand, the information available on the Internet is not always reliable. The extremely wide variety of material varies in accuracy, consistency, and value. Doubts about its credibility arise as no one has to approve the content before it is made public.

Frost & Sullivan confronts these problems to sift through information for relevance and accuracy. It also evaluates Internet research sources for authenticity, and credibility. Corroboration from various sources and a look at Frost & Sullivan's own database further ensures the reliability and utility of the content.