Springboard Research Announces Alliance with Japan’s Nork Research

Singapore & Tokyo, Japan – July 29, 2007 – Springboard Research, a leading innovator in the IT market research industry, today announced a research alliance with Nork Research of Japan, a dedicated IT market research company specializing in research on the IT needs of small- and medium businesses (SMBs) in Japan. Under the agreement, Springboard and Nork will cooperate on a series of research reports, in English, on the Japanese SMB market, based on data collected from on-going annual surveys of several thousand SMBs in Japan undertaken annually by Nork Research. Within Japan, Nork Research will also resell Springboard’s syndicated research focused on IT markets across Asia.

The two companies will also partner on client studies focused on the SMB market in Japan, emerging software paradigms and business models, including SOA (Services Oriented Architecture) and SaaS (Software-as-a-Service), and general IT market trends in the Asia Pacific region. A comprehensive study on the status of SaaS business models in Japan and SaaS acceptance within Japanese SMBs based on vendor and user data undertaken jointly by Springboard Research Japan and Nork Research is scheduled for release shortly.

“We are extremely pleased to announce this new partnership which will provide us with privileged access to one of fastest-growing segments in the Japanese IT market”, said Dane Anderson, Springboard’s CEO. “We have already worked with Nork Research in a number of instances and have found their research on the Japanese SMB market of unusually high quality,” added Mr. Anderson.

Founded in 1998 by Kenji Ishima, a veteran analyst formerly with market leading research firm Yano Research, Nork Research is the leading market research company focusing exclusively on the Japanese SMB market. Nork Research is also a founding member of the “Syszo” (or “system warehouse”) web site, a portal dedicated to information exchange on IT systems and infrastructures among system administrators with small and medium-sized businesses. Syszo is sponsored by major IT vendors and resellers, including NEC, Hitachi, HP Japan, Orix, and Ohtsuka Shokai.

“At Nork Research we have now well over a decade of experience in researching all aspects of the SMB market in Japan”, said Kenji Ishima, CEO of Nork Research. “While our focus will remain on the Japanese SMB market, this new partnership with Springboard Research will provide us with better access to emerging trends in the worldwide IT market and is crucial to our future development” added Mr. Ishima.







About Springboard Research

Springboard Research’s core values are value, integrity and insight. Led by a team of dynamic industry experts, Springboard Research provides its customers with high value IT market research that helps them identify new market opportunities, growth engines and innovative ways to go to market. As a result, Springboard’s clients lead rather than follow market trends. Not bound by legacy, Springboard’s cutting-edge research model leverages its offshore research centers, the Internet, and an increased use of technology as engines of innovation to deliver unique research value. Provided as an alternative to traditional IT market research, Springboard’s reports deliver data and knowledge in a more usable and interactive format for our clients. Springboard Research works with the largest IT companies in the world in the software, services, hardware, and telecommunications sectors.

Founded in 2004, Springboard Research serves the needs of its clients globally through offices in the United States, Australia, Singapore and Japan as well as global research centers in India and Pakistan.

For more information regarding Springboard Research, please visit www.springboardresearch.com

About Nork Research

Nork Research ist the leading provider of market research data on IT solutions for the Japanese SMB market. Founded by Kenji Ishima in 1998, Nork has undertaken annual surveys of several thousand SMBs since 1999. Nork research reports and consulting services have been used by major IT vendors and system integrators in Japan. Nork founder Kenji Ishima is a frequent contributor on software and hardware solutions to many IT magazines in Japan.

www.norkresearch.co.jp

About Shiszô

Shiszô (“system warehouse”) is a community website for IT managers and system administrators at small- and medium businesses in Japan. Registered users of the web site can pose questions. Shiszô also provides analysis on recent trends in hardware and software solutions for SMBs based on original research from Nork. Shiszô is sponsored by major IT vendors and distributors and is administrated by IT consulting firm Tecnet (www.tec-net.jp) in cooperation with Nork Research and social networking site Okwave (www.okwave.co.jp).

www.syszo.com

Media Contacts

Robert Triendl, Country Manager, Japan
Springboard Research
81-3-5251-3032
rtriendl@springboardresearch.com

Chris Perrine, COO & EVP of Sales & Marketing
Springboard Research
65-6325-9717
cperrine@springboardresearch.com