17-year industry veteran Gens to lead International Data Corporation's research on strategic IT issues and trends.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 8, 1995--International Data Corporation announced today that 17-year industry veteran Frank Gens, a well-known analyst, writer and speaker on IT user issues and trends, has joined IDC in a newly created senior research position. As Senior Vice President of Research, Gens will research and publish analysis about broad information technology trends and provide a unique perspective on industry directions beyond the year 2000.

According to Gens, "The IT industry is on the threshold of its greatest, and most challenging, transformation as it enters the era of the `Wired Consumer'. Collateral events such as the emergence of the World Wide Web and the explosion of new geographic markets like China, will continue to create great excitement and opportunity. But it is the establishment of pervasive, digital connections to the home and consumer, and the building of a massive virtual marketplace by businesses to serve those consumers, that will create the defining discontinuity for this industry -- and indeed all industries -- over the next decade and beyond. This discontinuity is the shift from a commercial-driven business model to a consumer-driven one, requiring an entirely fresh perspective on the marketplace and new strategies for market selection, product development, pricing, distribution, marketing and support. IDC intends to be the leader in defining just how this shift will radically change the success model for suppliers of IT services and products, and how companies may position themselves as leaders in the new, increasingly electronic, marketspace."

As one of IDC's senior analysts, Gens will publish monthly industry insights and speak regularly at industry conferences and events, including IDC's annual Directions '96 briefing session in March 1996. Gens reports directly to President and CEO Kirk Campbell.

"We are very pleased to welcome Frank back to IDC," said Campbell. "His unique strength as an analyst has been identifying critical areas of convergence and change in IT and its use, and forecasting the implications of those changes for both vendors and users. We particularly look forward to his experience with corporate users enhancing the end-user perspective in IDC's research."

Gens' return to IDC marks the third time in the last five months that a former IDC executive has rejoined the company. In October, Philippe de Marcillac resigned from Dataquest to lead IDC's worldwide research. In July, Vicki J. Brown rejoined IDC after nearly two years as a Director of Product Marketing at Sun Microsystems. Both de Marcillac and Brown hold Senior VP positions (de Marcillac began his research career at IDC U.K. in 1982; Brown joined IDC initially in 1985).

Gens has worked as an analyst and consultant in the IT industry for 17 years, ten of which were with IDC and its associated research companies. He has consulted to virtually all constituencies in the IT industry: IS management of Global 500 corporations, leading and emerging IT product and service vendors, and the investment community.

Gens has published nearly 200 syndicated research publications on IT and IS management. Most recently, he was contributing author of Integrating PCs in a Distributed Client-Server Environment (Prentice Hall).

Gens has also been a keynote speaker at many IS management conferences including: X/Open User Council, GUIDE International, DECworld, Association for Systems Management, CIO Magazine Perspectives Series, and Data Processing Managers Association. Additionally, Gens has been a guest lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management, University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management, and Babson College Center for Information Management Studies.

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the world's leading provider of information technology data, analysis and consulting. With research centers in 40 countries and more than 300 research analysts worldwide, IDC is uniquely positioned to provide a global perspective on IT market and technology trends.

IDC's subsidiary, IDC/LINK, specializes in the convergence of the information, telecommunications, personal computing, and electronic entertainment industries.

Based in Framingham, Massachusetts, IDC is a subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world's largest publisher of computer-related information and the leading global provider of information services on information technology. -0-

For more press releases, visit IDC's home page at: http://www.idcresearch.com.

CONTACT: IDC, Framingham

Chris Whelan, 508/935-4489.