Date: Tue, 18 Jun 1996 00:00:05 -0400 From: bayerle@auidea.org (Martin G. Bayerle) To: freebsd-isp@freebsd.org Subject: ISP Trade Association Message-ID: <v0211010badeba558901c@[206.31.232.10]>
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To all Internet Service Providers:
Organizations which address the technical issues of internet service
such as protocols and technological standards, have existed for some time,
but none yet exist to address the business issues which confront the small
to medium-sized Internet Service Provider. The business environment for
Internet Service Providers is increasingly volatile; for the smallest ISPs,
it is even hostile. In the months ahead we will see mergers, acquisitions,
scalebacks, and even bankruptcies as the industry sheds itself of its
weakest players, those who are least able to provide the consumer with
competitive services at reasonable prices. The challenges which face the
smaller ISPs include their inability to provide their customers with
worldwide access, their relatively weak promotional capabilities, and their
inability to gather timely and accurate business-related information, such
as economic and market data, which could assist them with outside financing
and strategic planning decisions. The Internet Development and Exchange
Association's (IDEA) mission is to meet these challenges, and others, which
now confront the ISP industry.
1. If this e-mail is misdirected and you are not an ISP, for
statistical survey purposes, could you please return e-mail with only the
following in the message body:
"I am NOT an ISP"
and accept our apologies.
IDEA is a representative body staffed and managed by business
professionals and academicians, with a membership comprised of independent
owner/operators within the Internet Service Provider industry. We ask all
of you to participate in our first annual survey of small to mid-sized local
and regional Internet Service Providers - for mutual benefit. For
additional information about IDEA, its goals, its services, and its creators
see the Association homepage at http://www.auidea.org .
Our overall inquiry actually concerns two surveys. The first survey
is a relatively short questionnaire called the State of the Industry
Executive Opinion Survey (which should take you approximately 10 minutes to
complete). It is designed to help us assess the mood of the industry. What
are the most important business issues confronting the small to medium-sized
ISP and how can an association address these issues? An Executive Summary
of this survey will be made freely available at our website http://www
auidea.org .
The second survey is longer, but more critical, than the first (and
should take you approximately 25 minutes to complete). This survey, which
we call the Day One Survey, is a benchmark study of the Internet Service
Provider industry. This survey is designed to help provide answers to many
of the questions frequently posed by bankers and other investors. Where
does your firm stand with respect to the rest of the industry? This
comparison between your ISP and the industry can be made on many levels.
For many of these comparisons, no reliable statistics are currently
available. Banks and investors usually equate lack of information with risk
so we hope that providing sound financial information for comparative
purposes will help them lower their risk and increase their willingness to
invest in measurably sound ventures. Also, lack of comparative information
makes it impossible for you to make fully informed strategic decisions.
After all, the technology is only half of what ISPs need to know - ISPs also
need to be aware of the market and economic conditions that determine the
viability of the investment. Your survey participation and specific data
will be held in absolute trust and confidence. The survey's results,
however, are essential for industry growth as well as your company's short
and long-term planning.
You may choose to participate in either or both surveys. For reasons
of fairness, those ISPs who choose to participate in BOTH surveys will
receive a complete copy of "The ISP Report:1996" AT NO COST via ftp (the
complete details of this offer are stipulated within the survey). For
anyone who chooses not to participate in the survey, but who would like to
examine the results of the survey, "The ISP Report:1996," will be available
for sale from the Internet Development and Exchange Association. Although
the selling price of the finished report has not yet been determined,
comparable industry analyses often sell for several thousand dollars.
However, an Executive Summary will be made publicly available at no charge
at our website http://www.auidea.org .
2. If you are an ISP and wish to participate in the survey, you can do
so one of two ways:
a. by sending an e-mail to survey@auidea.org for an
autoresponder of both surveys; or
b. by completing the surveys on-line at our website
http://www.auidea.org ,
and accept our thanks and the thanks of many other ISPs for your
participation. Please note that the State of the Industry Executive Opinion
Survey and the Day One Survey are both available via either e-mail or our
web site. If you request the surveys via e-mail, a copy of both surveys will
be returned to you as two separate e-mails by our autoresponder. The
instructions for both are contained within the introduction to the State of
the Industry Executive Opinion Survey. Each of the two surveys is
approximately 20k. You may choose to complete and submit either one or both
surveys. If you are an ISP and you complete BOTH surveys you will be
entitled to a complete copy of "The ISP Report:1996" at no charge.
3. If you are an ISP but do NOT wish to participate in the survey, for
statistical purposes, could you please return e-mail with only the following
in the message body:
"I AM an ISP but do not wish to participate in the survey."
and accept our thanks for enabling us to increase the statistical accuracy
of the survey.
Sincerely yours,
Lutfus Sayeed, PhD
Survey Project Director
Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems
West Virginia University
Martin G. Bayerle, MBA
Executive Director, IDEA
bayerle@auidea.org
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