This IDC study is a reference guide for budget management and cost control. It can serve as the foundation for sales, marketing, and finance executives to better demonstrate fiscal management capabilities to C-level executives and to improve decision-making processes based on standardized resource allocations.

"Using IDC's marketing taxonomy, coupled with benchmarking against IDC's industry-leading Technology Marketing Benchmarks database, will enable executives to advance their investment management capabilities," says Rich Vancil, group vice president of IDC's Executive Advisory Group. "Executives should use this taxonomy guide as a tool to optimize return on their activities and expenses across the marketing functions."