Businessmodel of IMS Health

Customer Segments

IMS Health provides information and technology services to organisations operating within the healthcare sector. Its customer base comprises a broad range of companies within the sector, with around 90% of its sales coming from:

• life science companies;
• pharmaceutical groups;
• biotechnology firms;
• consumer health providers;
• medical device manufacturers;
• diagnostic companies; According to the Company’s annual report, it includes almost all of the top 100 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, measured by revenue, among its clients, many of which subscribe to products and services across multiple jurisdictions. IMS Health also serves medical product distributors, government and regulatory agencies, pharmaceutical distributors, financial services firms, and pharmacies. Sales to government agencies represent only around 1% of the Company’s business.

IMS Health’s largest market is its native US, which accounted for around 39% of the Company’s 2015 revenue. The Company, however, also serves customers across more than 100 countries worldwide, with business in emerging markets such as China, India, Brazil and Russia growing significantly in recent years.

Value Propositions

IMS Health provides value to its customers in the following ways:

• Its industry standing and brand identity, being one of the largest companies in its sector and having a number of longstanding client relationships with high-profile customers;
• The quality and efficiency of its products and services, comprising a diverse suite of solutions developed by in-house experts with the support of market-leading technology partners;
• Its flexible and scalable products and solutions, which can be implemented across businesses of all sizes and in various jurisdictions; and
• Its commitment to innovation, with the Company devoting substantial resources to research and development activities each year. ### Channels

IMS Health operates a website at www.imshealth.com, where customers are able to find information on the Company’s services and solutions. The Company, however, does not appear to operate an online sales channel.

The majority of IMS Health’s sales are made directly via its in-house sales teams, which are organised by jurisdiction, managing sales and customer relationships on a local basis. The Company has a sales presence across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, including offices in Buenos Aires, Caracas, Los Ruices, Lisbon, and Bangalore

IMS Health also sells a portion of its products and solutions to distributors, which sell on to end-users, and collaborates with a network of other channel partners.

Customer Relationships

While the Company has an online presence, it does not appear to provide services and solutions on a self-service basis. Instead, the Company implements a predominantly direct sales model, with customers consulting directly with members of the Company’s local sales teams before making purchases. This allows the Company to provide a more personalised service that fully covers the client’s brief.

IMS Health maintains long-standing relationships and high renewal rates with its clients, due in part to the nature of the services and solutions its provides. According to its annual report, the average length of relationships with its top 25 clients, as measured by revenue, is over 25 years and its retention rate for its top 1,000 clients from 2014 to 2015 was 99%.

Customers are able to contact IMS Health directly through its website, as well as over the phone, receiving personal care for any issues and enquiries. The Company also operates Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn accounts, through which customers are able to interact directly with IMS Health.

Key Activities

IMS Health is an information and technology services company that provides solutions to its clients operating across multiple areas of the healthcare sector. The Company is headquartered in the US, its principal market, but has a presence in more than 100 countries worldwide.

IMS Health provides services and solutions to healthcare organisations and life science companies, including pharmaceutical, biotechnology, consumer health and medical device manufacturers, as well as distributors, government agencies, policymakers, researchers and clients within the financial community.

The Company’s principal information offerings include national information offerings, sub-national information offerings and its proprietary OneKey service.

Its technology services offerings include technology solutions, real-world evidence solutions, and workflow analytics and consulting services, as well as data warehousing, information technology outsourcing, development of software applications and other services.

Key Partners

IMS Health partners with a range of companies across its numerous operating jurisdictions companies that help the Company to provide value-added solutions to mutual clients. These partners include:

• Channel Partners, including market partners, authorized resellers, distributors and independent software vendors, which help to extend the Company’s sales and marketing reach;
• Development Partners, which assist the Company in developing its software-based service and solutions and help provide third-party integrations;
• Service Partners, which provide various service that facilitate the Company development and distribution of its products;
• Technology Partners, which share tools and resources with the Company and collaborate on joint projects; and
• Digital agencies, which assist the Company in the deployment of its digital solutions. Among IMS Health’s partners are Ping Identity, Qlik, Hootsuite, Aktana, Concur, Reltio, Scribe, Xamarin, and SAFE Biopharma.

Key Resources

IMS Health’s key resources are its technology and intellectual properties, its IT infrastructure, its network of partnerships, its sales and distribution channels, and its personnel.

The Company owns a range of intellectual property assets, including patents and patent applications related to its products and services, and trademarks and trademark applications related to its brand and products. Searches of records published by the US Patent and Trademark Office identified one patent application filed in IMS Health’s name, entitled ‘System and method for analyzing de-identified health care data’.

Cost Structure

IMS Health incurs costs in relation to the development of its products and services, the maintenance of its IT infrastructure, the operation of its sales and marketing channels, the management of its partnership and the retention of its personnel.

The Company’s general and administrative costs are its most significant. As of 31st December 2015, the Company had 15,000 employees worldwide, which represent costs in the form of salaries and benefits. It also operates an international network of offices, accruing costs in the form of rent and utilities.

Revenue Streams

IMS Health records its revenue across two business lines:

• Information, comprising revenue generated through the provision of small and large-scale service and consulting projects, multi-year outsourcing contracts, and software-as-a-service licenses; and
• Technology, comprising revenue generated through the sale of hosted and cloud-based applications, and the provision of implementation services, subscription software, analytic services and consulting solutions. In 2015 IMS Health generated $2.92 billion in annual revenue, up slightly on the $2.64 billion generated the previous year. Total global revenue from the Company’s information offerings, including national and sub-national information services, was $1.48 billion in 2015, representing approximately 51% of IMS Health’s total annual revenue for the year. Total global revenue generated by the Company’s technology services was approximately $1.43 billion, representing 49% of total annual 2015 revenue. Around 93% of IMS Health’s revenue is generated through its tops 1,000 clients.