It's pretty easy to look at how competitive forces impact your business in a simplistic way. A SWOT analysis that many companies engage in while going through a planning process is helpful, but it lacks the dimension for real strategic value. A comprehensive competitive analysis needs to extend beyond merely looking at a company's direct rivals, although this is the best place to start. Other factors must be included to gain valuable insights for a sound competitive strategy.
 

• The exploration of new and emerging companies that could have an impact on your market or industry. If the barriers-to-entry are relatively low, it could have major implications on how you go to market, your product offering, product lifecycles and many other BIG decisions you need to make. 
  

• The strength of bargaining power that your customers have in the marketplace along with companies with whom you deal with that are essential to providing customer value. These are critical issues that can have a major effect on the profitability of your company and must be analyzed for sound strategic planning. The airline industry ranks consistently low in profitability because customers and suppliers have strong buying power.

• Last, but not least is the potential threat that substitute products or services represent. This threat often comes from outside the industry and involves price competition. Consider the financial impact on media advertising from search engine companies like Google and Yahoo. Did they ever see it coming?

These are best practices in strategic competitive analysis that have evolved over years, but are they being practiced diligently by B-to-B marketers? I hope so.