Snap Surveys – delivering market research software and solutions for a quarter of a century
May 2006
Founded in 1981, Snap Surveys today has more than 25,000 customers worldwide within 40 different countries and is a leader in the field of market research survey software and services. This month marks the start of Snap’s 25th anniversary, and to honour this feat, celebrations will be taking place throughout the year including events, Roadshows and special offers. The following is a summary of where it all started, some of the highlights and what’s planned for the future…
The beginning…
Since the company was established, it has been at the forefront of technology supplying the most comprehensive and innovative solutions for survey design, data collection and analysis. The name Snap stands for Survey aNAlysis Package and the software was first developed to analyse the results of a survey, hence the derivation of the name. The first prototype of the software was actually written by Steve Jenkins in 1980 for Mercator Computer Systems to exhibit at the MRS Annual Conference, at which Peter Wills was presenting a paper on the Future of Survey Computing, (still worth a read if any of you remember the Prestel and Viewdata technologies). Colin Wilding from the UK's BBC World Service, a delegate at the conference, expressed an interest in being able to analyse listening figures for BBC Radio. Mercator responded and within the year Snap was developed, demonstrated and installed in the BBC where it is still used widely throughout the corporation today.
The company is still privately owned by Peter Wills and Dr Steve Jenkins, and although the roots are still in Bristol, the company has offices just off London’s Piccadilly Circus as well as a base in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, US.
The success years…
Mercator initially started off writing software for a wide range of markets and sold hardware and all the peripherals of disks and printer cartridges, but since 1990 has concentrated solely on producing survey software. The bureau service started on a small scale in 1983 and has never looked back. SurveyShop, Snap’s outsourcing division is now commissioned by companies across all sectors and in the last 12 months has processed over 650 projects. Snap Surveys broadened its horizons in 1993 and opened an office in the US to realise its global ambitions. Snap branched out further and set up a London sales team in 1999, which now incorporates an in-house training suite and plays host to specialist Snap events.
The future…
Over the last 25 years, Snap Surveys has evolved into an international business that is now used by thousands of organisations, from central and local government to market research agencies, media, health and charities. The company continues to flourish by listening and keeping in touch with the needs of its customers whilst staying abreast of technological advances. Peter Wills, Snap’s CEO explains “The computer industry has come along way since the early 80’s. Who would ever have dreamt of computers the size of your hand, or being able to design an online questionnaire that can be published to an audience worldwide within minutes, and analysing the results within the hour? We’re fortunate to have a US operation keeping an eye on emerging technologies and a team of developers in the UK that can keep abreast of these new opportunities.”
The forthcoming Snap version 9 is the most exciting release to date with multi-mode and multi-language questionnaire design, improved scanning performance, and extensive additions for surveys based on the web. To coincide with this release, two exciting new products are being launched: Snap WebHost, an online survey response management and analysis tool, and Snap Interviewer for mobile data collection.
Snap’s Technical Director, Steve Jenkins believes that future developments will concentrate on improving the user experience for users of all skill levels. “The most demanding challenge now is introducing new and powerful functions for those users who need them, without making software overly complex for those that do not – to that end we are continually developing new and innovative technologies which enable users to uncover as much sophistication as they require”
Look out for anniversary celebrations throughout the year to commemorate Snap’s 25th anniversary.