In business, market studies are commonly associated with the launch of new products, pricing optimization, or competitor analysis—making research seem like a purely marketing thing. But in reality, good technology market research creates the solid ground behind any strategic move an organization is making in digital, from optimizing the enterprise software ecosystem to validating the practical value of innovation.
Today, effective technology market research is worth its weight in gold. The abundance and accessibility of global data have made zettabytes of information available at our fingertips, yet this overload has simultaneously heightened the value of real, actionable insights.
How did we reach this point? What does high-quality B2B technology market research entail, and why relying on just any research agency isn’t always the answer? Let’s explore these questions in the sections ahead.
Understanding technology market research
In contrast to conventional market research which focuses on analyzing broader consumer preferences and general market trends across various industries, information technology market research involves gathering and analyzing data about trends, products, and customer behaviors within the technology industry. It aims to understand the competitive landscape, market demand, and opportunities for new technologies or improvements to existing products. This research helps companies make informed decisions about product development, market entry, and business strategies.
B2B technology market research is not just about asking customers what they want—smart companies know that valuable insights come from everywhere, from industry reports and competitor data to online forums and customer reviews. Whether in data archives or social media chatter, success lies in knowing where to dig to uncover the key insights.
Types of B2B technology market research
Technology market research primarily falls into two categories: primary research and secondary research. Each plays a critical role in guiding business decisions and understanding the changing technology landscape.
Primary research
Primary research involves gathering new, first-hand data directly from the target audience. It’s commonly conducted through surveys, interviews, and focus groups. The advantage of primary research is that it yields highly relevant, up-to-date data that directly applies to the company's products or services.
However, in practice, primary research can be limited due to the specific nature of some projects, budgetary restrictions, or the time required to collect and analyze the data effectively. Additionally, the need for immediate insights may sometimes necessitate relying on existing data instead of conducting new technology market research.
Secondary research
Secondary research, on the other hand, involves the analysis of existing data. This data is typically found in industry reports, research papers and white papers, company reports and financials, and other publicly available sources.
Secondary technology market research is often used as an addition to primary research or as a standalone technique that serves as the sole basis for the research findings.
Businesses that understand how to utilize open-source data and search engines for research can tap into a vast, constantly updated source of industry trends, competitor data, and consumer preferences. And with the rise of big data, this type of market research technology is becoming more and more common both for blue-chip corporations and fast-growing businesses.
B2B technology market research is not just about asking customers what they want—smart companies know that valuable insights come from everywhere, from industry reports and competitor data to online forums and customer reviews. Whether in data archives or social media chatter, success lies in knowing where to dig to uncover the key insights.
What is open-source intelligence and its impact on the world and business
As mentioned earlier, researching open-source data has become an affordable luxury due to the rise of big data—and this is no wonder. According to Statista, the total volume of all data created, copied, and consumed worldwide is about to reach more than 180k zettabytes (180 trillion gigabytes) in 2025. What is more, Google solely indexes more than 85 billion web pages a month, making it the largest source of information on the internet.
For businesses, this means that nearly every relevant market trend, competitor update, and consumer behavior insight is accessible with the right market researchtechnology, which has been in use for some time now.
In the 1990s, following the end of the Cold War, a practice emerged within U.S. intelligence that soon became known as open-source intelligence (OSINT). Initially, the term OSINT was primarily associated with national security, law enforcement, and geopolitical analysis. Over time, however, it has also had a significant impact on business intelligence.
Do you know the story about the 'pizza meter'? It goes back to an unusual spike in pizza orders near key U.S. government buildings like the Pentagon and the White House. Domino's noticed that whenever there was a sudden surge in late-night pizza orders, it often coincided with major global political events or emergencies. This illustrates how digging into niche data can uncover unexpected and valuable insights.
Just like that, the modern analysis of open-source data allows businesses to unlock patterns and trends that were previously hidden. By recognizing these patterns, companies can generate game-changing insights that drive better product design, more informed strategic decisions, and ultimately, revenue growth.
360 value businesses can get with technology market research
In general, the value of secondary or open-source data research in today’s business environment falls into six key categories.
1. Market landscape analysis. Technology market research offers a comprehensive overview of the industry landscape, including market size, growth potential, and key players. For example, a cybersecurity firm can analyze the competitive environment to identify market gaps and position itself effectively against established competitors.
2. Technology trends and innovations. Keeping up with technological advancements is critical for maintaining a competitive edge. In-depth technology market research can highlight emerging technologies and trends relevant to a business’s industry. For example, an enterprise software provider might leverage research to identify the rising demand for artificial intelligence in supply chain management, influencing their product development roadmap.
3. Regulatory and compliance insights. In sectors like finance and healthcare, staying abreast of regulatory changes is essential. Custom technology market research can provide insights into compliance requirements and emerging regulations, enabling businesses to adjust their strategies proactively and avoid potential pitfalls.
4. Vendor and partnership identification. Custom technology market research can assist organizations in identifying potential vendors and partners that align with their strategic goals. For instance, a logistics company could research and evaluate potential third-party logistics providers, ensuring they select partners that enhance operational efficiency and meet compliance standards.
5. Competitive benchmarking. Understanding how a business stacks up against competitors is vital for strategic positioning. Custom technology and market research provide benchmarking data, allowing companies to assess their performance relative to industry standards. For example, a manufacturing firm can evaluate its operational efficiency metrics against competitors to identify areas for improvement.
6. Market entry strategies. For businesses looking to enter new markets, custom technology industry market research provides crucial insights into market conditions, entry barriers, and customer preferences. A tech startup considering international expansion can analyze local market dynamics to develop effective entry strategies, minimizing risks and maximizing potential success.
This classification offers a high-level view of the multifaceted benefits of IT market research. However, its true power lies in its adaptability.
The beauty of custom technology market research is that it can be tailored to nearly any request or problem. Whether businesses are seeking niche insights or answers to seemingly impossible questions, the depth and breadth of custom research capabilities ensure that organizations can access critical information to inform their strategies and decision-making processes.
B2B technology market research: use cases from our practice
To exemplify how flexible good custom technology market research is, we’d like to share a few game-changing stories from our experience at Trinetix.
Case: Addressing operational challenges in logistics
A logistics company struggled with their existing real-time visibility solution, which failed to provide essential operational data. Our in-depth research uncovered similar issues among industry peers, prompting a reevaluation of their technology investments. This made the company consider alternative integration options instead of relying on third-party solutions, as the research revealed that the former could ultimately enhance their operational efficiency and competitiveness.
Case: Strategic insights for future development
In a technology market research project focused on competitor analysis, we provided critical insights that informed the future development direction of a technology startup. By analyzing market trends, competitor strengths, and potential gaps in the landscape, we helped the client identify strategic opportunities. This research not only clarified their positioning but also facilitated informed decision-making for their product roadmap.
Case: Comprehensive ERP Selection Analysis
As part of an internal initiative, our analysts conducted an in-depth assessment of the ERP market, looking beyond standard vendor criteria. We evaluated systems based on industry fit, user popularity, and implementation complexity. This analysis enabled the internal team to make strategic choices tailored to their needs, ensuring the selected ERP aligns with business goals and boosts efficiency.
These cases clearly show that truly customized market research technology goes beyond standardized requests and conventional analysis techniques, making nearly any question answered and any hypothesis validated.
The spectrum of research that we did is impressive: from mystery shopping and analyzing subject matter experts’ posts on social media to diving into the complex issues of different industries and advising clients on making new technology investments.
Why technology market research is difficult today
Would be fantastic if it weren’t so convoluted. In reality, conducting high-quality research with open-source data gets complicated because much of that data is junk.
Each year, the technology market research industry sees the emergence of both new players and long-established names. Today, popular platforms offer services like "eye-opening industry statistics" or "reports from global companies to help you make the right investment decision," alongside subscription-based databases with proprietary insights and industry-specific intelligence hubs.
Increasingly, technology market research providers promise actionable statistics spanning dozens of industries, with hundreds of thousands of reports or specialized consultants all in one place.
But here’s the question: what’s the likelihood of finding truly valuable, use case-specific insights among hundreds of thousands of repetitive reports and statistics? Likely close to 0.00001%, right? Not taking into account the time an executive or a manager needs to spend analyzing these reports.
The bold truth is like this: what the current market research technology industry offers is 99% junk. Yet, most executives don’t have the luxury of time to thoroughly vet research providers. That’s why they often end up choosing a ready-made report from whichever research agency catches their attention in search results.
What’s wrong with technology industry market research reports and agencies?
In general, there is nothing wrong with purchasing off-the-shelf market research reports. However, considering the abundance of low-quality online data and the emergence of numerous research agencies that hire mostly MBA graduates who have no deep industry knowledge, such mass-market reports obviously don’t provide enough depth, context, or niche-specific insights for companies to get the right answers and make the most of their investment.
Another reason why technology market research gets complicated is the emergence of GenAI tools like ChatGPT. According to a report by the European Union Law Enforcement Agency, 90% of online content could be synthetically generated by 2026.
Our expert explains
So, how to spot a diamond in the rough? Or rather how can a business practitioner quickly differentiate between truly deep technology market research and a generic low-quality collection of online data? Here are the red flags to watch for when partnering up with research agencies or purchasing an off-the-shelf industry report:
- Too many verticals are covered. If the agency claims expertise in everything from washing powder to Generative AI code tools, especially for a small firm, it's a red flag that they may lack true depth in any specific field.
- No industry expertise: If the agency isn’t linked to larger companies, market events, interviews with experts, or testimonials from industry participants, it’s a sign they lack genuine industry knowledge and connections.
- Weak technology market research report sample. If the sample report centers around basic metrics like CAGR, without explaining how it was calculated or what factors influence it, this indicates a lack of rigorous analysis.
- Market segmentation is questionable. If the report's segmentation seems irrelevant or off-target for your needs, it’s a sign that the research is too generic and lacks actionable insights.
- Inaccurate competitor list. If major market players are missing, or the report lists mostly unknown companies, this suggests a lack of credible market research technology and understanding of the competitive landscape.
- Unclear data sources. If the report doesn’t specify where its data comes from, it’s hard to trust its findings. Quality reports always disclose their data sources.
- Outdated or missing trend analysis. A strong report will include current trends and external factors that influence the market. If the report lacks this, it's likely outdated or irrelevant.
Beyond reviewing the company’s website or a report sample, there are a few additional red flags to be aware of:
- Checking the company's LinkedIn profile can be insightful. For instance, if the headcount is unusually small, it's worth questioning the credibility of both the company and its products.
- Some companies may claim to be based in the U.S. or Western Europe, but a deeper investigation of their business address could reveal they’re actually located in the Asia-Pacific region. While there's nothing inherently wrong with any location, it's often more beneficial to work with a company that has a closer geographic connection to your market and business environment.
- When evaluating potential market research technology service providers, be proactive and schedule a call with a representative. If, during this conversation, they struggle to clearly explain their research methodology, that’s a major red flag.
As you see, putting in the extra effort to vet reports and research agencies can lead to some valuable insights. Once a business finds a reputable, high-quality source of information, they may, however, recognize that the data falls short when it comes to addressing more nuanced business questions or providing the level of detail needed to validate specific hypotheses.
The hunt for insights: Why custom technology market research is a king
Insights—the magic term businesses seem to be obsessed with in the 21st century. Today one can easily find job titles containing the word ‘insights’ in any reputable corporation, and often, it’s even about C-level and VP positions. There is a VP of Insights at PayPal, Head of Innovation & Insights at Nestle, VP of New Product Development & Insights at Barclays, Head of Global Innovation Insights at Kraft Heinz, and many more.
This clearly shows that businesses are increasingly placing value on actionable insights, recognizing that raw data alone is not enough. Companies understand that real competitive advantage comes not from just collecting relevant data but from interpreting it in a way that uncovers new opportunities and drives strategic decisions. But what is this way like in practice and how to make the most of technology market research?
What is the best way to get custom technology insights?
Truly valuable insights are the result of interpreting collected information within the context of a particular problem, brand, or category. To make this happen, researchers need to possess a certain level of industry expertise and experience within the domain of interest.
When it comes to conducting technology market research, the choice is often between collecting and analyzing data internally, hiring a research agency, or partnering up with a technology market research company. While the first two options could work for answering high-level questions like identifying general market trends or industry benchmarks, nothing compares to an in-depth investigation made by a technology provider.
What is more, a technology market research company can not only accurately find important dependencies but suggest practical steps to address business-specific issues and offer capabilities for custom problem-solving. This strategic foundation is always a win-win combination for business transformation and growth.
Validate hypotheses. Build concepts. Secure business growth.
How to approach technology market research?
For years, digital native companies like Amazon, Instagram, and Shopify have been favoring hypothesis-driven market research technology. At Trinetix, we learn from the leaders to help enterprises and fast-growing businesses make the most of open-source intelligence applied to very specific niche questions.
So, how do we approach technology market research and secure businesses getting actionable insights?
Phase 1. Discovery and investigation
Effective technology market research begins with a clear understanding of business needs and challenges.
- Understanding the needs. We start by identifying the key challenges and objectives. This involves exploring business pain points, specific questions, and the reasons behind these inquiries.
- Market exploration. We dive deep into a specific business domain, studying market taxonomy, key trends, competitors, and dominant business models. This helps us tailor our market research technology to clients’ specific needs.
Phase 2. Data collection and analysis
Generating valuable insights requires the collection and analysis of data from a variety of reliable sources. Here are some principles and market research technology we follow at this stage.
- Focusing on reliable sources. With the vast amount of unreliable data out there, we filter out junk information. If ready-made insights aren't available, we explore unique sources like news archives and financial reports using advanced search techniques.
- Analyzing non-standard data sources. We go beyond Google and standard reports, exploring innovative sources such as forums and Reddit, social media platforms like TikTok (for Gen Z trends), company annual reports and news. This approach allows us to derive insights that standard sources might overlook.
- Avoiding junk metrics. Instead of relying on generic metrics like CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate), we focus on real-time market signals and specific industry movements. For example, if a trend like cashierless checkout systems proves unviable due to theft rates, we reflect that in our technology market research rather than assuming an optimistic growth rate.
Phase 3. Results interpretation
The true value of technology market research lies in the actionable insights derived from the data analysis. That’s why, focusing on the deliverables, we aim to help businesses make the most of the insights uncovered, we offer research-based consulting as part of market analysis services.
- Customized technology market research reports. We deliver fully customized research reports tailored to current business requirements.
- Research-based consulting. Our analysts are available for follow-up calls, where you can ask questions, seek clarifications, and request adjustments. This way, businesses can rest assured that they get the exact insights needed to drive their strategy.
In fact, this approach integrates IT market research with consulting, offering actionable advice and insights. We don't just uncover insights but provide guidance tailored to your specific needs, ensuring practical outcomes.
Your gateway to practical outcomes
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To sum up
The internet is an ocean of data. And what makes successful companies thrive isn’t just intuition; it’s the power of informed decision-making through precise and ongoing technology market research. Essential insights are accessible for any research topic; all you need is a partner who can expertly navigate it.
At Trinetix, we leverage our extensive experience across various industries, supported by a dedicated team of research analysts committed to delivering high-quality results. Clients often joke that our insights make it seem like we work at the CIA, but the truth lies in our rigorous and systematic approach. Our iterative market research technology ensures that we adapt and refine our findings to meet your specific needs, providing high customizability and a unique engagement model.
Our services encompass comprehensive technology market research for both existing and future products, primary and secondary market research, research-based technology consulting, customer and persona profiling, vendor selection research, and UX research. Partner with us to turn data into actionable insights that drive your business forward.
Let’s chat to explore how we can help you harness the power of technology market research for your specific goals.
