IDC's Home Office Market service provides in-depth information on both income-generating home offices and corporate home offices. Research on individuals running a business from home compares primary-income workers with part-time home workers. Research on corporate home offices compares after-hours workers with telecommuters who work at home three days a month or more. This service also looks at alternative work styles and corporate support of nontraditional workers. The service draws on IDC's Work-at-Home Survey, conducted annually since 1986, as well as issue-specific surveys targeted at home office households.

This service covers the following segments of the home office market:

• Corporate home offices: Telecommuters and after-hours home offices
• Income-generating home offices: Primary and part-time home offices

Throughout the year, this service will address the following topics:

• Home office technology use and its impact on others in the household
• Mobile workers and home office resources
• Changing role of the Internet as a home office resource
• Advanced voice and data telephone services, including mobile
• Desktop and notebook PC use in home offices
• The home office as catalyst to home network adoption and the integration of home working into home technology environments

Our research addresses the following issues that are critical to your success:

1. How has the number of telecommuters grown, and which technologies are supporting that growth? How has corporate support of nontraditional workers been changing?
2. Which advanced telephone services will most appeal to home office workers? What combination of voice and data services generates the most interest?
3. How are different home office workers using the Internet? What Internet-based services will be of greatest future interest?
4. What will technology shipments to home offices be through 2013? How will technology penetration change?
5. How do PC and LAN applications vary in home office households? What role will wireless LANs have supporting productivity and entertainment applications?
6. How are home office households devoting more resources to storage and security? To what extent will advanced mobile devices supplement or replace PCs?

This service focuses on the following core research. In addition to the insight provided in this service, IDC may conduct additional research on specific topics, or emerging market segments, via research offerings that require additional IDC funding and client investment.

This study profiles home office Internet use. It examines the current and expected use of ecommerce and different broadband technologies.

This study provides a forecast for home office households by type along with acquisition and use of advanced technology, from PCs and printers to home networking and communications.

This study profiles the small office/home office (SOHO) community, combining small offices (those with fewer than 10 employees) and income-generating home offices. The technology acquisition process is examined in detail.

This study examines the use of different computer and communications technology by telecommuters and remote workers. It also examines the extent and nature of support for remote workers by different-sized companies.

IDC offers a complete market intelligence solution customized to meet your business requirements. The array of products and services available to you includes:

• The opportunity to have your specific questions answered through personal interaction with industry experts who cover the topics and markets in your service
• Around-the-clock access to our market intelligence on idc.com, IDC's personalized Web experience
• A view of the market's future with 12 months of continuous intelligence about its direction and the reasons behind it, along with actionable advice for taking advantage of existing and emerging opportunities
• Special client discount pricing on purchases of research from other services
• Complimentary admission to IDC's annual Directions conference, where you'll hear our latest forecasts and network with IDC analysts and other industry professionals
• Complimentary invitations to monthly executive telebriefings, interactive forums designed to provide you with insights about research and strategies directly from IDC analysts

To find out how our flexible packaging options can meet your specific business needs, please contact your IDC sales executive.

As a privately held company, IDC believes that our customers are our primary constituency. A large percentage of every revenue dollar is reinvested back into our products, including more analysts, more geographic coverage, and extensive primary research.

Our steady growth over the past 10-plus years reflects our commitment to investing in our customers.