To go global or not? In my opinion, the answer is "not yet". To survive, DataClear will have to go global in the future, but its current decision-making process and logic are flawed. What DataClear needs to do is not to panic, slow down, take a clearer look at its situation and business environment, and develop some strategic options that will allow it to go global when the time comes. They have some time but not a lot. As stated in the case, they need to focus. Despite the emergence of VisiDat and its deal with Shell, DataClear still has the U.S. data analytics market to itself, as well as a proven product to sell. The VisiDat product was still in beta and had no successful installations, and there is no guarantee that it will work as well as (much less surpass) DataClear's. DataClear had also seen very impressive sales growth in its first two years, and given projections, we were looking at average revenue growth of 300% through 2002. The available case analysis shows that DataClear has an annual domestic market of $600 million for its current product and $1.2 billion if the global telecommunications and financial services market is added. With the expansion of products, there was a potential annual market of $2.7 billion ($1.5 billion domestic/$1.26 billion overseas) to be targeted in the telecommunications, financial services , chemical, petrochemical and pharmaceutical combined. The case also suggests that DataClear would not have to substantially modify its core software product to allow expansion into new markets for its services, although the total cost for expansion of both product and infrastructure/staff support was estimated at $4 million. The cost of immediate global expansion wasn't explicitly stated, but it's probably around $2 million just for infrastructure and staff support, before product development (let's call it $2 million, so it's even). What was clear in the case was the lack of international business. experience on the part of DataClear's senior management: a serious gap. Before thinking about globalization, DataClear needs to get smarter on the international stage and gain real experience on board. My recommendation is that DataClear first proceed with consolidating its first-mover advantage in the US telecommunications and financial services markets and expand as planned into chemical, petrochemical and pharmaceutical data analytics. In all of these areas, the companies it deals with or will market for are global players, so, in effect, DataClear is already developing a global presence. Next, I would like to get a copy or access to the VisiDat product to see how good it really is and determine its flaws - this will help refine the ClearCloud product and subsequent products.