CompTIA Research

Summary of "Product Data Quality" Survey

Survey Information

When CompTIA members, particularly those in Europe, expressed interest in CompTIA being a “hub” for product data, this research was conducted to identify whether product data quality is a widespread problem. A Web-based survey was launched in November via e-mail and electronic newsletters. The survey closed in December with 51 respondents. The majority (39%) were from the United States and others hailed from Canada (8%), New Zealand (6%) and Belgium (4%). Most respondents compare specifications and marketing messages most frequently in English (87%), and most are small-sized business. Fifty-three percent made less than one million in revenue in the last year, and 11 percent made more than $100 million in revenue.

Key Findings

Respondents felt that the product quality data information they received was reliable overall. The quality of information was mostly described by respondents as excellent for some (43%) or most (38%) products. Slightly more than half (51%) of respondents indicate that generally accurate comparisons can be made, but that they should be improved, and more than one-quarter (27%)
say that it is difficult to compare and that comparisons are frequently inaccurate. No respondents felt it was impossible to compare.

Nearly half (49%) of respondents indicated that the quality of product data was a nuisance that sometimes caused problems with their business. Product data quality was not a problem for 24 percent of respondents, but 19 percent said it was a problem that inhibits their ability to deliver the right product to their customers, and eight percent classified it as a major problem.

When asked to describe the severity of six separate product specification/characteristic data problems in terms of how they affect business, the following ranking occurs, from most severe to least: Incomplete data, mean of 6.4, missing data mean of 6.0, erroneous data, mean of 5.7. For different ways of expressing a product specification, the mean was 5.4 and for incorrect language translations, the mean was 4.6.

The majority of information about hardware and software products (52%) was gathered directly from the vendor, with more than a third (36%) coming from distributors. Other sources included data intermediaries (17%), media (12%) and third-party resources (10%). The majority (71%) ordered hardware and software products from distributors, 42 percent ordered directly from the
vendor, 21 percent through a third-party resource, and 20 percent from other sources including the Web, ZipZoomFly and NewEgg.

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