Michael Cousins has responsibility for custom research and consulting assignments for IDC's Personal Systems Group. He works with clients to define their objectives for custom research and orchestrates IDC's worldwide resources to meet those objectives. Mr. Cousins has considerable experience in the formulation and development of IT vendor strategy, and has consulted on behalf of major corporations based in the United States, Europe, and Asia/Pacific.

Mr. Cousins also has extensive experience in the design and execution of research methodologies, including quantitative and qualitative Web-based surveying. Assignments have included the commercialization of multimedia communications technology developed by the R&D arm of a major telecommunications operator; online research in advance of an international expansion by an e-commerce vendor, and a series of projects for different vendors aimed at measuring brand equity, using IDC's Brand Equity Evaluator methodology and tools.

Mr. Cousins has provided market strategy consulting in the United States since 1991. Previously based in London with BIS Consulting, his experience had reflected the course of deregulation of European telecommunications markets, with key assignments for a European telecommunication authority in the formulation of licensing policy in preparation for deregulation of mobile communication services. A second area of interest arising from deregulation was the development of value-added network services, and Mr. Cousins directed several market entry strategy assignments for new and existing operators, as well as a number of studies for the European Commission tracking the development of online services.

Prior to his consulting work with BIS, Mr. Cousins was Commercial Director of a start-up company formed to provide online economic and business information to clients in the financial, high technology and consumer sectors.

He graduated from the University of Lancaster in 1980 with an honors degree in economics, and has completed post-graduate work in business administration.