Equifax 2006 Annual Report Download - page 18

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A Conversation With Rick Smith continued
There are large, existing players in the global
commercial marketplace. Do you think these
advantages are enough to win in this space?
Yes, the global commercial space is a multi-billion-
dollar market. We have built a $125 million business
with commercial offerings in North America, Europe
and Latin America. Our goal is to more than double
this over the next four years. This represents a signifi -
cant growth opportunity for Equifax. Customers want
more information and newer technologies to make
better decisions. They want choices. Today, they have
limited choices; we’re changing the game!
New products are a large part of your strategy
to gain market share. How is the Company
approaching new product development?
We’re utilizing New Product Innovation (NPI), a
disciplined, systematic, rapid assessment process that
funnels new products from idea to launch. In 2006,
we asked, “What do our customers need?” and “How
do we make money?” The answers generated 220
ideas around the world. Currently, we’ve launched,
or have in development, 68 new products with the
potential of generating up to $50 million in revenue
during 2007. NPI provides a centralized discipline
for product development, and innovation on a global
basis. Our goal is to generate $100 million in new
revenue each year by the year 2010.
How will you decide when and where to
expand in the global marketplace?
Historically, we have used partnerships outside of
the United States to enter the countries in which
we currently do business. This model has been very
successful for us. As part of our planning process for
future expansion, we conducted a rigorous assess-
ment of target countries and will focus on a handful:
China, India and Mexico. We have teams evaluating
entry strategies and determining likely partners who
have on-the-ground knowledge in each market. Global
expansion will be a very methodical process and
should be viewed as a long-term investment.
What level of capital investment is necessary
to achieve your fi nancial growth goals, and
how are you allocating resources?
For the next two years, you should expect us to invest
generally in the range of 6 percent to 8 percent of
revenue to build new products and to improve our
IT infrastructure. After that, we expect to return
to historical levels, which are in the 4 percent to
6 percent range.