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| Rocket Builders Announces
2004 "Ready to Rocket 25" List to Reveal Companies Positioned to Capitalize
on Growth in Information Technology Sector As analysts forecast growth for the I.T. sector, Rocket Builders highlights hottest trends and names 25 private B.C. companies with high growth potential in 2004 VANCOUVER, BC - January 14, 2004 - Rocket Builders has released its second annual "Ready to Rocket 25" list along with its annual "I.T. Outlook" report. The "Ready to Rocket 25" list names twenty-five private B.C. companies who are best positioned to capitalize on the information technology (I.T.) trends that will contribute to faster growth than the I.T. sector as a whole. "Unlike the pessimism about the industry last year, analysts are now predicting growth for the I.T. sector," said Reg Nordman, Managing Partner at Rocket Builders. "Although predictions of 5% growth are pretty modest, some areas of technology and some vertical markets are seeing in excess of 20% growth. And, despite the tough economic times of recent years, the industry continues to innovate technology, introduce new strategies, and implement new business models." Today, Rocket Builders presented its I.T. Outlook for 2004 to leading investors and advisors to the local technology industry. The analysis examined the top market inhibitors as well as leading market drivers. Examples of the market drivers are continued innovation and investment by IBM, Intel and Microsoft and key emerging technologies such as Wireless Handheld Devices, On-Demand Computing, and Social Networking. One new driver of growth opportunities is regulation of governance, privacy, security and digital copyrights. "In our analysis, we observed that B.C. has some strong clusters of technology innovation in wireless, telecommunications, visualization and media, and customer engagement technologies," said Dave Thomas, a Senior Partner at Rocket Builders. "B.C. continues to have technology leadership in many fronts of the I.T. industry." Businesses are requiring technology providers to support business process automation and real-time decision-making along with a means of managing business risk and increasing customer intimacy. Software companies are finding a need to specialize their offering to specific vertical industries. "Of particular interest is the importance of vertical markets for the I.T. industry," said Geoffrey Hansen, the Managing Partner at Rocket Builders responsible for I.T. Outlook report. "The financial services, manufacturing and government vertical markets are consistently growing year after year, and the retail, healthcare and government verticals are expected to exceed 20% growth in I.T. spending." The process of choosing the twenty-five companies for the "Ready to Rocket 25" list involved mapping hundreds of technology companies against the key trends identified in the "I.T. Outlook 2004" report. Last year's "Ready to Rocket 25" list featured 15 companies who met or exceeded double-digit growth and 3 companies who were acquired, with the majority of the 25 companies receiving new financing in 2003. For details on the "Ready
to Rocket 25" list and an overview of key findings of the "I.T.
Outlook" report, please visit http://www.rocketbuilders.com/r2r2004/ Media Contact: |
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