Adding more sessions to make it easier for you to attend AR training

Frequently we hear from AR professionals wanting to attend one of our seminars, webinars or Coffee Talks saying they could not attend the scheduled session. In the very next sentence is usually “when will the session be scheduled again or do you have a replay?” To answer the request for additional scheduling options, we are [...]

The 451 Group experiences layoffs

SageCircle has received credible intelligence that The 451 Group initiated a job action resulting in analyst layoffs. We will continue to provide updates as we learn new information.

Update – 1/31/09 12:15 pm - Initial post

AR & recession – Ruthlessly revisiting analyst lists and service level frameworks

During a recession AR managers are confronted with the need to cut back work either due to headcount constraints or the need to refocus their priorities (e.g., providing more support to their company’s sales force and increasing lead generation via analysts placing the company on purchasing short lists). Two areas of low hanging fruit for [...]

Are you wasting time on the wrong analysts? Announcing “Ranking and Tiering,” a SageCircle webinar

One of the biggest ongoing mistakes that AR professionals make is not using a rigorous methodology for managing their analyst lists. This often leads to too many analysts on their lists and too many analysts designated as “Tier 1.” This state of affairs leads to inefficiency and ineffectiveness as AR teams are spread too thin [...]

An update on Twitter and the industry analysts – activity grows

With industry analysts continuing to sign up for Twitter handles – we have added 67 names in last two weeks – we thought it was time to do a quick refresher on how analysts are using Twitter.
A significant example you should read is Gartner analyst Jeffrey Mann discussing why he uses Twitter in his blog [...]

Analyst Relations in Transit – a new SageCircle service

Unfortunately some highly qualified Analyst Relations (AR) professionals are getting caught up in company downsizings. To facilitate the networking of AR pros “in transit” between jobs and AR managers at vendors with positions to fill, SageCircle is launching a new service: the “AR in Transit” page.
For the time being the directory will be a page in the [...]

“There are only so many briefing hours in the year” so AR professionals better make sure their briefings are focused and valuable for the analyst

During the January 27, 2009 Gartner Quarterly AR Call, GVP Jenni Lehman, research operations, made a useful point that we think that vendors do not focus on enough:
      ”There are only so many briefing hours in a year.”
This point is important because many vendors rely too much on briefings, and have ill-planned and poorly executed briefings. Calling on analysts [...]

Mike Fauscette on IDC’s Software Business Solutions Group

Mike dropped by the analyst and AR meet up that SageCircle hosted on Monday, January 12, 2009 in the Silicon Valley. We asked Mike (blog, Twitter handle) to give us an update on the Software Business Solutions Group, the IDC service he heads up.

Acquisitions of analyst firms are likely, so who would be buyers and targets?

Question: A common question SageCircle has been receiving concerns the likelihood that there will be acquisitions of analyst firms during the current recession.
During a recession, companies with strong balance sheets often acquire companies with weaker financials because the purchase price has been cut. Both Gartner (cash at September 30th was $145.2 million) and Forrester (NASDAQ: [...]

iSuppli experiences layoffs

Electronics supply chain market research firm iSuppli has announced layoffs. This news was first noted on the Analyst Perspectives blog (The Analyst Layoffs Keep Rolling On) and later confirmed by SageCircle. It appears that no analysts have been laid off, though some research assistants and contractors appear to have lost their positions.

Forrester Research, Inc. Q4 and FY08 earnings call is scheduled – Acquisitions? Layoffs? Something out the ordinary?

This earnings call should be much more interesting than recent quarters in the wake of the recent layoffs of analysts at five firms and the cancellation of Gartner’s  Spring Symposium. So far, Forrester has not announced any layoffs, but sometimes companies regardless of size or market will announce job actions during an earnings call to show Wall Street analysts that management is taking [...]

So, how much money did the US Federal Government spend with analysts firms?

Well, it was a pretty fair amount.   And the lion’s share went to Gartner of course. Gartner got at least $121,000,000 in the last four years. See below for a table of spending by firm.
 The information came from www.USAspending.gov, which is an interesting resource for market research.  BTW, the numbers below should be considered the minimum [...]

SageCircle is extending its AR Seminars to the Seattle area

Due to popular demand, SageCircle is expanding our seminars beyond the Silicon Valley. The first location is Bellevue, strategically placed between Seattle and Redmond. In addition, for those of you in Portland, it is only a three-hour drive (faster and much less expensive than flying) up lovely Interstate 5.

AR Effectiveness (click for brochure) is on [...]

Burton Group announces job action

SageCircle has received from Burton Group CEO Jamie Lewis an email about a job action resulting in analyst layoffs. We will continue to provide updates as we learn new information

Update 1 – 1/20/09 – Posted official statement
Update 2 – 1/21/09 – Posted one analyst name to list
Update 3 – 1/22/09 – Removed Pete Lindstrom from list of analysts [...]

IDC’s Mike Fauscette on his usage of social media as an analyst

Mike dropped by the analyst and AR meet up that SageCircle hosted on Monday, January 12, 2009 in the Silicon Valley. We asked Mike (blog, Twitter handle) to explain how he uses social media in his job.
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Observations from updating the various SageCircle directories

This weekend we spent considerable hours updating the SageCircle directories. This exercise always generates interesting insights such as: 
Analyst  Twitter Directory – 46 additions, 4 updates. Change can come quite quickly. The IDC Financial Insights team members decided to put more emphasis on Twitter as part of an overall plan to increase their visibility. This resulted [...]

Kudos to CEO Emily Green for transparency about latest Yankee Group job action

I am in complete agreement with Hill & Knowlton AR guru Dom Pannell’s post on the ARcade blog that Yankee CEO Emily Green deserves a compliment for her blog post Time for the shoemaker’s children. While the layoffs are painful, transparency can help raise the confidence of the analyst ecosystem about Yankee’s prospects.

Gartner, Inc. Q4 and FY08 earnings call is scheduled – more important than usual

This earnings call should be much more interesting than recent quarters in the wake of the analyst layoffs and Spring Symposium cancelation.
Gartner is on February 5th at 10:00 a.m. ET. The earnings call is a webcast that you can find on Gartner’s investor relations webpage.
I don’t listen to the Gartner and Forrester earnings calls with the same mindset as [...]

Aberdeen Group experiences analyst layoffs

SageCircle has received credible intelligence that Aberdeen Group initiated a job action resulting in analyst layoffs. We will continue to provide updates as we learn new information.

Update – 1/15/09 2:47 – Added five names to the analyst list (see below)

Yankee Group experiences new round of layoffs

Credible reports are coming in that Yankee Group is laying off another group of analysts. We will continue to provide updates as we learn new information.

Update 1 – 1/15/09 8:59 am – Posted official statement from Yankee Group
Updated 2 – 1/15/09 9:07 am – Added two analysts to list

Official Statement
Sent: Thu, January 15, 2009 8:50
Subject: [...]

People on the Move in Analyst Relations – Marijke Shugrue

Marijke Shugrue has joined Avaya as Director, Global Analyst Relations. Formerly Marijke was an AR manager with Bite PR.
Please join us in congratulating Marijke and wishing her great success in her new position. 
 
 
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Are you or someone you know on the move? Please let us know and

Gartner statement on Spring Symposium

Hi Carter,
Thanks for your note on Friday. Regarding Spring Symposium/ITxpo.
Every year, as a normal course of business planning, we conduct a thorough review of our worldwide event portfolio and make adjustments based on the trends and performance of individual events.  As a result of this review, we have decided to cancel this year’s Spring Symposium/ITxpo [...]

Integrating your ARM into your daily activities using an Outlook plug-in

We often hear AR teams complain about the difficulty getting full team participation in their Analyst Relationship Management (ARM) application.  It seems that some team members don’t appreciate the value or perhaps are not sufficiently trained.  When only part of the data is entered it limits the ability to generate metrics or encourage good collaboration.
Dave [...]

Forrester’s Ray Wang on analyst usage of social media

Ray dropped by the analyst and AR meet up that SageCircle hosted on Monday, January 12, 2009 in the Silicon Valley. We asked Ray (blog, Twitter handle) to explain how he uses social media in his job.
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Role of social media in uncovering the Gartner and AMR analyst layoffs

The last few days have been interesting regarding the layoffs at Gartner and AMR. Laying off workers (about 1% of analysts for Gartner so far), canceling unprofitable events (such as Spring Symposium), and so on are so typical for any company in this economic environment. In fact, more layoffs or other services cancelations would not [...]