How does one become an analyst? [AR Practitioner Question]

At a recent client meeting we got an interesting question: How does a person become an analyst? Is there certification? A test?
At this time the requirements for becoming an analyst consist of ownership of a laptop, cell phone, business card and an opinion. A website and / or blog are nice, but not required. There [...]

Did you know that you can comment on Forrester’s research on its website?

Something that came up yesterday at the AR Effectiveness Seminar is that nobody knew that they could rate and comment on research notes on Forrester.com. This is another example of Forrester embracing social media and they deserve kudos for doing so. However, to make it really powerful, Forrester should actively promote the use of this [...]

Startups should look for “bite-sized” services that provide AR insights and tools at modest prices [Startup Saturday]

Startups rarely have huge sums to spend on analyst relations and AR services. This is often perceived as a barrier to getting the help they need to get their AR programs launched or taken to the next level. However, there are some modestly priced services that startups can turn to.
Analyst Directories - ARinsights’ ARchitect and [...]

Research Consumers need account maintenance, part one

To get the maximum value from an automobile a certain amount of ongoing maintenance is required.  This includes the regular oil change as well as larger items done at specified intervals.  A trip to either the dealer or the quick-lube usually results in a multi-point “safety inspection” to highlight any special concerns. 
Research consumers from IT [...]

Forrester and Gartner Q4 and full year earnings — Higher prices and emphasis on role-based services

The two analyst firms that are publicly held conducted earnings calls last week, Forrester (February 5) and Gartner (February 6). This analysis does not look at areas of interest to investors, but seeks to pull out insights that are relevant to clients and prospects as well as CIT vendor analyst relations (AR) teams.
For clients of [...]

Interview with AMR CEO Tony Friscia and VP Jonathan Yarmis on AMR’s new “emerging and disruptive technologies” service

AMR announced in November 2007 that it had hired Jonathan Yarmis as the new VP covering advanced, emerging, and disruptive technologies such as social networks, mobility, and location-based technologies. Jon brings a long industry background to AMR, including 10 years at Gartner and stints as a VP at Hill and Knowlton and Waggener Edstrom.
Because it [...]

Kudos to Forrester for having bloggers that post frequently and share the “good stuff”

Seeing how I threw brickbats at Forrester in Will established analyst firms become dinosaurs to the new media-oriented analysts? it is only fair that I throw a bouquet as well.
All of the Forrester blogs (see the “Firm or Analyst Blogs I Read” list on the right) are consistently active with good content. These are not teases [...]

Q4 2007 Forrester Research Earnings Conference Call on February 6th

This call starts at 11 am US Eastern Time (listen via webcast, link found on Forrester’s IR page).  This will be a similar situation as the Gartner earnings call as I’ll be Twittering live commentary and looking for the same types of insights that will be useful for AR and research consumers. 
In addition, Forrester also announced its participation [...]

Forrester AR Council members — make sure you vote on your topics

Several people have let me know that the Forrester AR Council is looking for input on its content agenda. So council members, look for that e-mail and vote early and often! Here is a topic to add to the bucket: “How influential are the analyst firms like Gartner and Forrester and whether that influence is [...]

Analyst integrity issues – the urban legend that won’t die

On Monday the 31st, Zack Urlocker a blogger/columnist for InfoWorld had a nicely provocative headline Other Underreported Stories: Analyst Integrity?  Of course, the rumors – urban legends – about pay-for-position or pay-to-play have been around forever. In general, these rumors are just that. The easiest way to dismiss them? Common sense.