IHS Inc. is a company based in Douglas County, Colorado, United States.
IHS serves international clients in seven major industries: aerospace and defense, automotive,
chemical, energy, finance, maritime, and technology.
IHS provides industry data, technical documents, custom software applications, and consulting
services.
IHS brands include Jane's Information Group, Cambridge Energy Research Associates, and
John S. Herold, Inc.
In 2010 IHS purchased iSuppli and Screen Digest, Displaybank and IMS Research in 2012, which
are the foundations for the new Electronics and Media services.
History In 1959, the Rogers Publishing Company, a
publisher of technical news magazines, began indexing product catalogs on microfilm.
Microfilming allowed catalogs to be updated without the expense of traditional publishing.
In 1961, when Rogers was bought by Cahners Publishing, the catalogs division became Information
Handling Services.
IHS initially served the aerospace industry.
Early clients included Martin Marietta and Convair.
The United States Army Missile Command) contracted with IHS to develop a common parts file to
be used by contractors designing new products.
In the 1980s, with the advent of the personal computer, IHS added electronic databases and
full text CD-ROMs to its delivery methods.
In the 1990s, IHS embraced the Internet by distributing its information products through
online databases.
IHS also expanded beyond the aerospace and defense industries to focus on the energy
industry, while continuing to serve the automotive, construction, and electronics sectors.
In 2005, IHS became a publicly traded company and changed its name from Information Handling
Services to IHS Inc.
IHS is classified as belonging to the publications industry.
Supported industries IHS provides products and services in the
following industries: Aerospace and defense
Automotive Chemical
Energy Finance
Maritime Technology
Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals Products and services
IHS offers four broad categories of products and services:
Industry data Technical documents
Custom software applications Consulting services
Industry data IHS analyzes and distributes energy, product
lifecycle, security, and environment industry information to customers in more than 165
countries.
Technical documents IHS distributes technical documents such as:
Domestic and international standards developed by Standards Development Organizations such
as the Telecommunications Industry Association, ASTM International, ESDU, and the Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Regulatory guideline information and documentation including Restriction of Hazardous Substances
Directive and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment
Custom software applications IHS develops custom software applications
that integrate the IHS information databases with their clients’ in-house management
software applications, such as: Enterprise resource planning
Product lifecycle management Consulting services
IHS, acting directly and through its CERA, Jane's Information Group, Herold's, isuppli,
and IMS Research divisions, provides strategic consulting services and industry expertise
to customers in the energy, product lifecycle, security, environment, electronics and media
industries.
Recent acquisitions IHS has embarked on an aggressive acquisition
program in the last several years, acquiring the following companies:
CAPS electronics component database of PartMiner.
Global Insight, the world's largest economics organization, serving over 3,800 clients in
industry, finance and government worldwide, with revenues of over $95 million and employing
more than 600 economists and other staff in 23 offices in 13 countries.
June 12, 2007 - Jane's Information Group, a global information provider to the aerospace
and aero-defense industries and to government agencies.
Jane’s publishes the renowned Jane's Fighting Ships.
Dolphin Software, Inc., which provides Material Safety Data Sheet management, chemical inventory
management, environmental reporting, and chemical management services.
Environmental Software Providers, which provides services including greenhouse gas management;
air, water, and waste management; internal and regulatory compliance assurance; incident
management; and management of emissions allowance and credit portfolios.
2008 - Prime Publications Limited, which owns Fairplay magazine and 50 percent of Lloyd’s
Register-Fairplay Limited, a leading source of global maritime information.
2009 - the remaining 50 percent of Lloyd's Register - Fairplay was acquired from Lloyd's
Register The division was renamed IHS Fairplay.
John S. Herold, Inc., a leading worldwide energy research and consulting firm.
March 17, 2010 - Detroit-based automotive forecasting firm CSM Worldwide; the purchase
price is approximately $27 million.
May 5, 2010 - Quantitative Micro Software, developer of EViews, for approximately $40
million.
September 7, 2010 - the Chemical and Energy Products from Access Intelligence.
September 22, 2010 - two leading environmental health and safety information companies, Atrion
International, and Syntex Management Systems, for a combined purchase price of approximately
$80 million.
November 2, 2010 - technology research specialist iSuppli and London-based media research company
Screen Digest for $95m. April 18, 2011 - market intelligence company
ODS-Petrodata April 27, 2011 - operational risk management
company Dyadem International, Ltd.
May 4, 2011 - CMAI, CSM and EIATrack August 11, 2011 - Seismic Micro-Technology.
November 11, 2011 - energy consultants Purvin & Gertz.
March 22, 2012 - IMS Research July 12, 2012 - GlobalSpec, Inc.
April 5, 2013 - Fekete Associates, reservoir engineering software and services company.
June 20, 2013 - PFC Energy, global consulting firm specializing in the oil and gas industry.
July 15, 2013 - R.L.
Polk & Company, owner of Carfax; information and analytics provider for the Automotive
industry.
Brands CERA
Global Insight Herold
Jane's Dolphin Software
Emerging Energy Research [2] Environmental Software Providers
Fairplay McCloskey
PCNalert CSM Worldwide
EViews Atrion
Syntex iSuppli
Screen Digest IMS Research
CAPS Third party evaluations
In 2006, the information industry research firm Outsell, Inc., listed IHS among the top
10 Scientific, Technical & Medical Information companies.
Outsell’s report analyzed the company size, growth rate, financial performance, and market
share of the sector’s top 20 companies.
Other companies among the top 10 included Elsevier, Thomson Scientific, and John Wiley
& Sons, Inc.
In 2008, Portfolio Manager David Fording of William Blair said in an interview with Barron’s,
“IHS is a good example of a sustainable business model.
… Their critical asset is vast and extensive data bases that contain product and technical
information on the majority of oil and gas wells around the globe.
They have the most extensive data base among all of their competition so IHS is a one-stop
shop for their customers.”
References
External links Official website
IHS Standards Store