Former Forrester analyst criticizes the Wave… but why did he wait?

Source: Corporate Integrity website

Michael Rasmussen (blog, bio, Twitter) is a former Forrester analyst now with his own boutique firm, Corporate Integrity. In his recent blog post The Forrester GRC ‘Ripple’ (OOOPS . . . I Mean, ‘Wave’) Michael calmly dissects the Wave methodology and makes several suggestions for improving it. It is well worth the read. 

However, this SageCircle blog post is actually in response to a Twitter direct message Carter received about Rasmussen’s post: “while part of me admires Rasmussen for offering critique, why didn’t he do so while AT Forrester? Hints at sour grapes.”

Probable Answer: It was only after he left the firm could he see the problem in the methodology

Major firms are constantly tweaking their methodologies with input from the analysts. But that is typically done around the edges with the goal of increasing the efficiency, fixing minor problems, or silencing vendor complaints. Frankly, it is the rare analyst at a major firm who takes the time to do an in-depth analysis of her firm’s research methodology to see where it is really broken. This lack of observations occurs for a variety of reasons:

• Analysts are too busy with day-to-day activities
• They drank the kool-aid that what the firm does is perfect
• “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it” attitude toward things that appear to be working

So Rasmussen should not be criticized for not criticizing the Wave methodology when he was an employee of Forrester. Rather than think of this post as “sour grapes,” it is much more likely that he did not have an “ah, ha!” moment until he was on the outside looking in.  We all know that hindsight is 20-20.

SageCircle Technique:

• Research consumers and AR professionals should develop a deep understanding of the methodologies used by their key analysts
• Research consumers should press analysts for detail on

The Top 5: Mistakes when Buying Analyst Firm Services

We have identified over 40 key issues that analyst contract managers at vendors (e.g., analyst relations, market research and competitive intelligence) need to be aware of when buying and using services from the IT industry analysts. In this post we list out the Top 5 Mistakes that buyers of analyst research commonly make.

5) Not determining the firm’s commitment to the research topic

4) Falling into “contract renewal trap”

3) Expending too much energy on obtaining incremental discounts from the Big Two (i.e., Forrester and Gartner)

2) Purchasing the premium version of a service, when the basic version would suffice (e.g., Gartner for Business Leaders versus Core Advisor)

…and the number one worst practice is

Time is running out for influencing Gartner’s Fall Symposia presentations

Analysts creating presentations for the Fall Symposia series will need to submit their PowerPoint files to Editorial starting in late July or early August. So now is the time to make a last push to get your information and point-of-view across to your analysts.

It is important to remember that the push in July is focused on the physical presentation. There will be other activities required in late August to early October to influence the talking points used by the analysts during their speeches and 1-on-1s. See below to learn about staying top of mind at Symposium, which is the subject of August’s free AR Coffee Talk.

One of the trickier issues for AR to decide is how much information to provide in July under non-disclosure about major announcements planned for September or October. There is the obvious concern of leaks while presentations are a work in progress.  However, providing NDA information can subtly influence what is in the presentation or the approach the analyst takes to lay out market trends.  Just be clear about what is confidential and be up front about your concerns.  Analysts will appreciate the candor.

SageCircle Technique:

• Immediately schedule inquiries with your top Gartner analysts to discuss
  • How their presentations are progressing
  • When the presentations are due to Editorial
  • What new opinions or changes from prior positions will likely be included
  • What type of customer stories, information, data or graphics does the analyst need that you might be able to help provide
• Determine what you can realistically influence
• Work with your extended AR team and domain experts to quickly develop written and graphical content to

AR Performance Metrics – July AR Coffee Talk

There are two types of AR metrics – operational and performance. Operational metrics are useful for the AR team only. Proving the value of AR requires data on the performance of the AR program rather than simple counts of analyst mentions or briefings held.

Join us to chat about what make good performance metrics that demonstrate the strategic value of AR.

August 4 at 8 AM Pacific – Free – Click here to register

August 13 at 10 AM Pacific - Free – Click here to register

AR Coffee Talks

Networking and chatting with peers is a great way to expand your knowledgebase. Unfortunately, we do not always have the time to

Misunderstanding Magic Quadrants, MarketScopes, and More

Source: Gartner analyst blog by Lydia Leong

For years IT and telecommunications vendors have complained about the misuse of Gartner Magic Quadrants by IT buyers.  It appears that three key issues are routinely surfaced: 

1)     The criteria for placing the dots onto the graphic are not transparent and often the dots appear to be randomly placed by the whim of the analyst

2)     Magic Quadrants are not always updated in a timely manner and out-of-date MQ’s seem to stay around forever

3)     Research consumers often look only at the graphic and miss the supporting research note or do not speak directly with the analysts via client inquiry.  This is especially true when free reprints are made available to non-clients by various vendors

Example Gartner disclaimer about the Magic Quadrant

Part of the problem is that while Gartner has background information about the MQ on its website (click here to read, free registration required) and a perfunctory paragraph to readers in the fine print in the footnote of MQ PDFs (click on graphic on left to enlarge), it does not have a systematically approach to training its clients about how the MQ is to be used. That is one of the reasons why SageCircle wrote IT managers, it’s never, ever only about the upper right dot when it comes to Forrester Waves or Gartner Magic Quadrants. (There is longer, more detailed version of this content in our  SageNote™ “A Consumer’s Guide to using Gartner’s Magic Quadrant”.)

It was therefore refreshing to see a blog post on the Gartner Blog network by Jim Holincheck entitled Misunderstanding Magic Quadrants, MarketScopes, and More where he talks a bit about criteria transparency and the way these reports should be used.  It makes a good read for both vendor clients and IT buyer clients.  This addresses the number one concern above. Perhaps with more discussion the use of these important tools can be improved.

However, there is still a disconnect with issue number three.  Jim states “More importantly though,

Incorporating Social Media Metrics into Your Measurement Program – A SageCircle Webinar

Some of today’s new challenges for AR teams are how to determine if there is value to monitoring analyst opinions on blogs, Twitter, and social networks like LinkedIn; how to do the monitoring; and how to use the information gathered to create meaningful metrics. To help analyst relations teams be proactive with the emerging measurement requirements for social media, SageCircle is announcing a new public webinar focused on providing the tools and insights needed to efficiently collect, analyze and report social media metrics. 

This webinar is designed to teach you how to measure analyst social media traffic, the various methods for automating your social media monitoring for effective data gathering, and ways to measure both the mentions and the tonality.  We will discuss how to incorporate social media into your balanced scorecard and provide concise reporting to executives.

Key Issues to be addressed in this webinar include:

• How do social media metrics fit into the overall AR measurement and reporting program?
• What are the social media metrics needed for both performance and operational measurements?
• What are the best practices for collecting social media metrics?
• What are the approaches for reporting on social media activities and outcomes, either as standalone reports or as part of a broader reporting structure?

In this SageCircle Webinar, our strategists will provide a succinct analysis of

Michael Piramoon has joined Cognizant’s Analyst Relations Team

Michael joins AR from Cognizant’s Field Marketing team. Michael will be supporting Banking and Financial Services, Insurance, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Retail, Manufacturing and Technology. 

Please join us in congratulating Michael and wishing him great success in his new position.

 

 ___________________________________

Are you or someone you know on the move? Please let us know and we’ll post

Asking analysts about sales impact [Practitioner Question]

At last week’s workshop “Launching an AR-Sales Partnership Program” we had a number of insightful questions.  We posted one item already about getting feedback from recorded sales training but here is another that came from a participant. 

We were suggesting the use of inquiry as a way of asking analysts about the influence they have in your market space.  Questions such as “how many short lists did you review in the past week (month)?” are examples of ways that a short inquiry can be used to approximate the impact on sales.  However, what if you don’t have a contract and cannot do an inquiry?

We always suggest that inquiry access with your key (tier one) analysts is a requirement for AR teams.  But with the current economy and associated tight AR budgets we are hearing of some teams that wind up without all the desired contracts.  So how do you pose these questions without inquiry?

Most analysts will reply to well-placed and appropriate questions during a briefing (note: this has been a problem with Gartner analysts – we suggested a workaround in the SageInsight sent to client ”Schedule inquiries the day after briefing Gartner analysts to deal with the ‘no questions during briefings’ issue”).  We always suggest that you have prepared a sequence of general questions to go with every interaction of any type.  These of course include such things as “what research are you working on next?” or “what interesting thing did you learn at the XXX conference”.  Placed in context you could also ask about the kinds of questions that IT buyer clients are asking or places where the market might be changing.  This gives you the rationale to ask questions that would give you insights into the influence this analyst has in a particular market.

While having inquiry privilege is the best approach you can be creative and still get some information.

Another potential resource is the analyst firms’ account representatives. They

Gartner analyst restarts his use of Twitter

Gartnerian Anthony Bradley (bio, blog, Twitter) in his blog announced OK, OK, I Hear Ya, I’m Tweeting Again.

“I used Twitter ages ago and never really got into it (didn’t see the value). But now that Twitter has gained more participants and I’m being asked more and more for my Twitter name, I’m going to give it another shot.”

This is not an uncommon occurrence. Someone signs up for Twitter, plays around with it for awhile and drops it when they don’t see immediate value. Then something gets them back on Twitter and they have an “ah ha!” moment. Moral of the story is that analyst relations (AR) cannot assume that an analyst’s position on Twitter and other social media, no matter how vehemently stated, is permanent. Of course, an analyst that was a heavy user of social media could stop using it as well.

SageCircle Technique:

• Check SageCircle’s Analyst Twitter Directory periodically for your top analysts
• Ask your analysts who are not using Twitter if they have changed their minds. This can be done during briefings, inquiries or

Who do you want telling your story, you or your competitors?

We recently came across a useful reminder in a blog post by a Forrester analyst:

“… <vendor> surprised many software industry veterans this morning with its acquisition of <vendor>. Why?  Well, <vendor>’s competitors have been spreading FUD that the company was out of cash, the company was in severe debt, and the company could not execute any more acquisitions. …” 

Of course you are shocked, SHOCKED!, that a vendor’s competitors would be whispering FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) in the ear of an analyst. Alas, while this not a common tactic because most vendors recognize the potential for blowback, it does happen often enough that analyst relations (AR) professionals should factor this into their plans.

Competitor FUD is most effective when the targeted vendor does not interact with analysts sufficiently to get their own messages and facts across. This is one of the reasons why SageCircle recommends that AR teams interact with their most relevant analysts early and often. Unfortunately, some vendors do not interact with vendors sufficiently due to either under investment in AR or poor AR practices. These companies need to recognize that insufficient AR means that they are potentially ceding the telling of their story to their competitors.

SageCircle Technique:

• Periodically set up client inquiries to ask your top analysts about

LinkedIn forum moderated by AMR analyst

AMR analyst and outsourcing expert extraordinaire Phil Fersht (Twitter, bio, blog) is an effective user of social media as a research and publishing tool. It turns out that Phil is also using LinkedIn as well having created the The BPO and Offshoring Best Practices Forum to build the BPO community. Here is Phil’s invitation from his Horses for Sources blog:

“Yes, there is such a thing as a free lunch… Horses For Sources’ official LinkedIn Group, the aptly-named “The BPO and Offshoring Best Practices Forum” now has 5,700 members. This is a forum for leading sourcing practitioners to share their experiences, views, opinions, best practices and lessons learned in the worlds of IT outsourcing, Business Process Outsourcing, Shared Services and Offshoring. You also get a free subscription to the Horses Digest. And it’s FREE FREE FREE. Am I the most charitable person you know?”

This is yet another example of how savvy analysts are

Why Twitter is Useful for Analysts

Not a week goes by where an analyst does not ask SageCircle – typically in response to a query from us if they have a Twitter handle – what is the value of Twitter for an analyst? This is a great question because analysts, like AR, should make intelligent decisions about the use of a new communications tool. While some analysts are heavy users of Twitter, it does not mean they are necessarily effective users. Here is a subset of Twitter uses (in alphabetical order) that analysts typically find constructive. 

1. Announcing activities (e.g., briefings by vendors) to elicit a response
2. Building brands, personal as well as for the firm
3. Developing ideas
4. Discussing research agendas with clients and non-clients
5. Exchanging observations with other

The Top 5: AR Metrics Mistakes

Organizations that use the Balanced Scorecard to report the effectiveness of their interactions with influencers often make their lives more difficult and the Scorecard less useful by picking the wrong items to measure. This Top 5 looks at issues surrounding the selection of metrics to put into the Balanced Scorecard.

5) Not picking items whose data collection can be out-tasked. Because data collection can be burdensome, managers should pick some items for the Scorecard whose data collection can be out-tasked (e.g., a clipping service for analyst quotes or a consulting firm for AR effectiveness surveys).

4) Picking items to measure that are too granular and thus too difficult to gather. A classic problem is picking metrics that require a significant amount of work to collect, analyze and report. This leads to the Balanced Scorecard being dropped from the regular activity list.

3) Not picking items that dovetail with corporate and departmental goals. A Balanced Scorecard can lose its relevance quickly if

How do you get feedback when you do recorded training? [Practitioner Question]

At yesterday’s workshop “Launching an AR-Sales Partnership Program” we had an interesting question about the use of non-live training for sales representatives.  The workshop participant asked how to go about getting feedback.  Feedback, comments, and student reactions can often help you tailor your training or understand areas that could be improved.  Of course this would also apply to any other recorded, web-based, or portal training or information that the AR team wants to deliver.  

There are two easy-to-implement approaches to this problem.  Perhaps the simplest solution is to create an email address such as:  AR@company.com.  You can direct sales (or others who listen to recorded training) to use this team address for questions, comments, and requests for information.  You can then put this at the end of any recorded training (e.g., MP3s) or add it to content you deliver via web streaming.  SageCircle has even created a specific space in its recorded training for sales representatives where we can insert a “For more information” comment that is tailored to your team.

Alternatively you can use technologies such as blogs or wikis for posting the recorded training, which provide a

SageCircle AR Podcast for June 16, 2009 – Aberdeen change; Twittering analyst update; Cynics or Skeptics; Analyst as AR

The AR podcast is a review of the latest news and trends in the analyst ecosystem along with tips and tricks for analyst relations professionals and analyst research consumers. SageCircle strategists Dave Eckert and Carter Lusher co-host this bi-weekly program. You can find all the SageCircle podcasts on our podcast page.

Click here to listen to the podcast on your computer or visit the podcast page to download the MP3 file.  Click here to subscribe to the podcast within iTunes

SCP 3: Table of contents. Numbers in parentheses refer to minutes:seconds when the article starts within the podcast.

(00:00)  Introduction

(00:55) In this edition we start with a discussion on the impact of the change in Aberdeen leadership

(04:05) state of analysts on Twitter

(09:30) reactions to our blog post about cynical analysts

(13:05) the effectiveness of analysts moving into vendor positions

(15:50) and topics you can include in your regular staff meetings

(17:10) We wrap up by looking at upcoming SageCircle events.

(18:14) End credits

Our goals for the AR Community Podcast are two-fold. The first goal is to provide an additional venue for SageCircle research that complements our existing deliverables, whether free (e.g., SageCircle blog) or client only (e.g., the Online SageContent Library, the largest and premier repository of AR best practices and downloadable tools available in the industry). The second goal is to develop real-world podcasting skills so when our clients are considering their own podcasts we have the experience (and scar tissue) to help them start podcasting without having to re-invent the wheel.

Ovum awarded Analyst Firm of the Year by Communications Day

Ovum, the analyst and consulting firm, has been awarded the Asia-Pacific Telecom Analyst Firm of the Year by Communications Day.

Grahame Lynch, Director of CommsDay, said “The CommsDay Asia-Pacific Awards are the only awards in the region that are directly voted by Asia- Pacific telecom executives. They are, thus, a substantial peer review of excellence.” Lynch said “Ovum beat out tough competition from Gartner, the Economist Intelligence Group and Buddecomm to win the award”.

Antonio Bartolome, Ovum’s Asia-Pacific Managing Director, said, “Asia-Pacific plays a key role in Ovum’s global operations. Presence in Asia-Pacific enables us to better understand the key growth issues in one of the fastest growing technology markets – exactly where Ovum wants to be’.

“This award is a reflection of Ovum’s strong commitment to the Asian region and our local presence” said David Kennedy, Research Director at Ovum. CW Cheung, Consulting Director, received the award on behalf of the Ovum team.

The CommsDay Award winners were voted by the

AR and analyst gathering in the Silicon Valley on Tuesday, June 16th

Well, we had such a great turnout at the first two AR and analyst Happy Hours that we are going to do it again!

The gathering will be in Cupertino in the heart of the Silicon Valley. It will start at 6 pm PT and goes to who knows when at least to 7:30 pm or later. So drop by after work.

Remember…. We won’t be using this as a sales opportunity for SageCircle and there will not be any formal presentations. Nor is this a meeting of SPAR or IIAR. Rather the purpose is to promote the community around the analyst ecosystem.

If you think you might be showing up for this AR and analyst happy hour , please RSVP so that we can ensure we will have enough drink and finger food on hand. Contact us at 503-636-1500 or info [at] sagecircle.com.

Please spread the word to AR, analysts and IT managers.

Analyst opening – Canalys research analyst in Singapore

Click here for more information.

IDC veteran Dan Kusnetzky joins The 451 Group – analyst ecosystem news

The 451 Group announced in a press release (see below) that analyst industry veteran and ZDnet blogger Dan Kusnetzky (bio, Twitter, blog) has joined the firm as VP of Research Operations. In addition, Dan will launch 451’s cloud computing and virtualization research coverage. This fits in well with the work Dan was doing with his ZDnet blog (which will continue) and his boutique firm Kusnetzky Group (which will be shut down).

In February 2009, The 451 Group did go through a round of layoffs that affected analysts, executives, and back office staff. However, it is not a contradiction for it to be hiring at this time as technology companies frequently lay off and hire nearly at the same time in order to change the mix of skills.

SageCircle Technique:

• Vendors that are competing in the cloud computing and virtualization markets should immediately brief Dan to ensure that he is up-to-speed during his transition to The 451
• AR teams for whom Kusnetzky is relevant, should do a refresh of their analyst lists to see if Dan’s ranking is affected by his new employer
• Frequency of future briefings should be determined based on

Which analysts get the most attention from AR?

[Note: this guest post is from Rick Shuri the CTO of ARInsights, the provider of the ARchitect™ ARM (Analyst Relations Management) system. ]

 Over time our clients ask for a variety of new features to be added to ARchitect.  One of the requests was to advise them on which analysts were getting the most attention from AR staff.  ARchitect users can easily get these types of reports based on the data they have entered, and analyze the data to ensure they are focusing their efforts on the most influential analysts in their market space. 

However, knowing the relative importance of an analyst among all vendors was not something a client could obtain.  We elected to compute a set of statistics based not on a single client, but as an aggregate of all our clients.  Using this method we produced an overall ranking of those analysts that our vendor clients seem to feel are most important.  Without revealing other client information it also gives an AR team a sense as to which analysts may be busy working with other vendors.

ARchitect™ Power 100 analysts are the top one hundred analysts ranked according to their activity level among all ARchitect users.  These are the analysts with the most sustained “buzz” in the industry right now.    

In order to create the ranking we considered a wide range of criteria which included the frequency of interactions, emails, and captured research & media as well as how recently each of the postings was entered.  Obviously those analysts with a lot of current activity are high on the radar of the client teams.  A ranking algorithm assigns different weighted averages to each factor and employs certain data smoothing techniques.  Analysts are re-ranked daily to reflect all current aggregate activity.   

The most current analyst list information is available in a number of ways: 

• We place a small icon next to their name on the profile page for each Power 100 analyst.  This alerts

Aberdeen Group President Stephen Gold departs

SageCircle has received credible reports that Stephen Gold, President & CMO, has left Aberdeen Group. We have contacted Aberdeen Group’s public relations team for a statement and their official statement is below.

Under then CEO Jamie Bedard, who took over in 2003, Aberdeen had worked to transform what was perceived to be a “white paper for hire” firm into one focused on fact-based research. While Bedard was successful in changing how the company worked, changing the brand perception was still a work in progress. Then in September 2006 Aberdeen was acquired by Harke-Hanks, a direct marketing company. To a certain extent, the acquisition of Aberdeen by Harke-Hanks was a puzzle because it did not seem to offer much in the way of business synergy. Stephen Gold took over as President and Chief Marketing Officer late in 2006 (the CEO position was eliminated). Since the acquisition, Aberdeen has not being able to completely shake its old reputation.

Official Statement from Aberdeen re: Resignation of Stephen Gold

From Tracey Jones, Sr. Director of Marketing Communications

Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company has announced the promotion of Andrew Boyd, currently Chief Research Officer, to President, replacing Stephen Gold who has resigned effective June 5, 2009. Stephen Gold will return to an executive position in the enterprise software space. “We greatly appreciate Stephen’s leadership and the significant contributions he has made to Aberdeen over the years and wish him continued success in the future,” said Spencer Joyner, Executive Vice-President and Corporate Officer, Harte-Hanks. “Aberdeen has never been more solidly positioned as the leading research provider in the market than it is today, thanks to Stephen Gold and his incorporation of cutting edge programs that continue to drive market awareness. Andrew Boyd’s enormous success in leading Aberdeen’s entire research organization and his passion to the continued success of Aberdeen, made him the obvious choice to assume the role of President. With Andrew’s deep industry experience, passion and knowledge of both the technology vendors, solutions providers and end user community, I am confident that he will continue on Aberdeen’s path of growth and success.”

end of official statement

While Aberdeen is a niche player in the industry and the appointment of its new leader will not have the impact of

Analysts are cynics – a dead idea

Public policy wonk and Fortune Magazine columnist Matt Miller’s new book The Tyranny of Dead Ideas: Letting Go of the Old Ways of Thinking to Unleash a New Prosperity got us at SageCircle thinking “Hmm, are there dead ideas holding back analyst relations?” Of course there are! This is one in an occasional series of posts that will address the dead ideas that impact AR programs and their ability to delivery strategic value to their companies. These posts are meant to be provocative and not necessarily definitive in their new ideas and suggestions.

Dead Idea: Industry analysts are irredeemably cynical

Back Story: It is common for many vendor executives to think of industry analysts as cynical. And at first glance, Gartner analyst Ray Valdes (bio, blog, Twitter) would seem to confirm this perception by characterizing his reaction to a vendor’s announcement as cynicism in his blog post The Secret Sauce Behind Google Wave. 

“…My initial reaction was colored by instinctive reflex of cynicism, and basically amounted to: Yes, it’s very cool and innovative, but what has Google done for the enterprise lately?

After a healthy debate with Gartner colleagues, spanning a range of views pro and con, I reviewed the Wave video and the documentation, and felt greater excitement than I did during the keynote (where I was one of the few sitting down during the standing ovation). I won’t use this post to make one of those forecasts, such as “Google Wave will kill X”, where X can be any number of well-known vendors or products. That kind of statement is overly glib, because we are just a few days into a scenario that will take 5 years or more to play out, with many twists and turns along the way…”

Although he uses the word SageCircle would not characterize Ray’s reaction as cynicism (def. “An attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others”) but as healthy skepticism (def. “A methodology based on an assumption of doubt with the aim of acquiring approximate or relative certainty”). Why this different characterization? Clearly Ray had his doubts after the Google announcement, but after conversations with colleagues and further research he moderated his point of view to at least neutral if not slightly positive.  

This is an important lesson for analyst relations (AR) managers to convey to their “cynical” executives – and maybe even themselves. While some analysts are truly cynics and thus a problem (see There are many types of problem analysts), for the most part industry analysts want vendors to

People on the Move in Analyst Relations – Ryan Mahoney

Ryan Mahoney  (Twitter) has joined i2 Technologies, Inc. as Analyst Relations Manager.

Ryan joins i2 from AMR Research where he was a client research analyst. This will be an interesting transition for Ryan as having been an analyst at one of – if not the – leading analyst firms when it comes to supply chain coverage will provide him with useful insights. However, if Carter’s experience of going from being a Gartner Research Fellow to AR is any indicator, Ryan will find a few interesting surprises along the way.

Please join us in congratulating Ryan and wishing him great success in his new position. 

 

___________________________________

Are you or someone you know on the move? Please let us know and we’ll

June’s AR Coffee Talk is on AR’s social media monitoring

Some of today’s new challenges for AR teams are how to determine if there is value to monitoring analyst opinions on blogs and Twitter, how to do the monitoring and how to use the information gathered. In this Coffee Talk, SageCircle strategists and AR professionals will discuss these issues and potential approaches to measuring and reporting on the analysts’ social media-based commentary.

June 10 at Noon US Pacific            Free – Click here to register

June 23 at 8:30 am US Pacific       Free – Click here to register

AR Coffee Talks

Networking and chatting with peers is a great way to expand your

Observations on changes in the analyst ecosystem

  [This commentary comes from guest contributor Gerry Van Zandt (Twitter handle), AR manager with HP Services. This guest post started as a letter that Gerry sent to his HP colleagues. We are posting an edited version with his permission]

I think it’s important to read and internalize what’s happening in the analyst ecosystem at a macro level.  Please note that this is my own take, and not the opinion nor the official position of HP.  Thus, you may or may not agree with it.

For the past 6-7 years, since blogs began to take hold and proliferate, a sea change has been occurring in the influencer (press and analyst) ecosystem.  The strict lines between press and analysts have been increasingly blurring, and a new class of influencers emerged circa 2002, and began really solidifying in late 2005.  I coined the term “blogalysts” for these influencers around this time.

Dozens of reporters and editors have left the press ranks to become industry analysts over the years — that’s not news.  However, we’re seeing more analysts who are contributing regular content to print and on-line press publications (i.e. Gordon Haff/Illuminata and Peter Glaskowsky/Envisioneering writing for C/Net).  Furthermore, laid-off press people and now analysts are leaving their traditional organizations to join on-line blog networks (and going solo) as “expert commentators” around particular topics. Some have strong reputations, others are striving mightily to build or re-build them.

RedMonk was probably the pioneer “blogalyst,” deliberately eschewing traditional paid, data-based research services and publishing commentary free, and 100% on-line.  They joined other newly formed “new-era” research firms like The 451 Group who aggressively embraced blogs and other emerging on-line tools.  Since then,