X

New Economy jargon: Sooo 1999

BtoB Commerce. E-sourcing Strategies Research. The E-conomy. Put off? The Yankee Group is betting you are, so it's renaming its research divisions.

Alorie Gilbert Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Alorie Gilbert
writes about software, spy chips and the high-tech workplace.
See full bio
Alorie Gilbert
Signaling just how out of vogue New Economy buzzwords have become, technology research and consulting company The Yankee Group renamed a number of its business units this week, sans jargon.

The Yankee Group's BtoB Commerce & Applications Research unit now sports the name Business Applications & Commerce. Technology Management Strategies replaces E-sourcing Strategies Research. Communications Services for the New E-conomy Planning Service now goes by the simpler name Telecommunications Strategies.

The new, streamlined names should be a relief to fans of the English language.

Peter Rumple, a vice president of sales who joined The Yankee Group in December, pushed the company to rename the units because clients were increasingly put off by them, according to Yankee Group analyst Harry Tse. The new names don't reflect a change in the kind of research the firm is doing, Tse added.

"Some of the names were kind of stupid," Tse said.

Securities analysts are also striving for greater clarity. This week Morgan Stanley said it plans to institute a new stock-rating system in March to make its recommendations clearer to investors. Merrill Lynch and Prudential Securities have made similar changes to their rating systems.