AR managers do not like surprises, which mean they are a little annoyed at blogging analysts

Obviously SageCircle is a big proponent of social media and the potential for positive impact on the analyst ecosystem. However, that view is not shared by all AR professionals. I recently had an interesting conversation with an AR manager who was more than a little irritated with major firm analysts who blog. Are these normal growing pains in the evolution of the AR-analyst relationship or is this a nascent backlash?

A big part of this person’s annoyance was centered on the lack of discipline and rigor in the analysts’

Speed versus silence on the Microsoft-Yahoo announcement and the implications for Analyst Relations and the Press

It has been interesting seeing the different responses to the Microsoft-Yahoo announcement. For example, as of 10:15 US Pacific Time:

• Redmonk’s James Governor on his Monkchips has an interesting post, plus James has been Twittering
• Forrester has commentary from three analysts (Rob, Charlene and Shar) on three blogs, each with a unique point-of-view
• Rob Enderle has weighed in on the Technology Pundits blog
• AMR, Gartner and IDC, nothing so far on their websites or blogs

No doubt, IDC and Gartner analysts have been talking to the press and clients, but frankly so

Will the analysts drive down IT spending? Not if you talk to them.

In Saturday’s New York Times Business Day section there was a reassuring article by Steve Lohr called Belt-Tightening, but No Collapse, Is Forecast in Technology Spending. Reassuring because the IT executives and industry analysts interviewed all indicated that there was less likelihood that IT spending was going to be slashed like during the 2001 recession. Whew, it looks like the IT market will dodge the bullet this time! However this relief could be short lived if the IT analysts turn negative and start counseling their IT buyer clients to be conservative and cut spending.

What could turn the IT analysts negative on spending? The analysts could flip their opinion if all they hear are the concerns and fears of budget cuts from nervous IT executives. As explained

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 to get the reader to buy services. For instance, “From Information to Knowledge Management” (a team written blog) has a great post in

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.

Reflections on 2007

For the last day of 2007, here are a few random observations about the year that is wrapping up.  

Moving from the blogosphere to the analyst ranks – Traditionally analyst firms get a lot of their analyst hires from vendors and end users with some hires from the press and elsewhere. This year we saw some bloggers jump over to the analyst side. The most prominent was Jeremiah Owyang (Web Strategy by Jeremiah) joining Forrester Research on October 1st. What has been interesting about Jeremiah is that he has maintained his personal brand by continuing his personal blog and speaking engagements. It will be fun to watch whether Jeremiah is an archetype of the new influencer, one with a foot in the traditional analyst industry while building a powerful personal brand through blogging and other Web 2.0 aspects.
 

The Curse of Knowledge

Innovative Minds Don’t Think Alike is an essay by Janet Rae-Dupree in today’s Sunday New York Times Business section. The first paragraph is what really caught my attention: “It’s a pickle of a paradox: As our knowledge and expertise increase, our creativity and ability to innovate tend to taper off. Why? Because the walls of the proverbial box in which we think are thickening along with our experience.” Hmm, I bet we all have come up against this “curse of knowledge” when a top analyst won’t consider something new or a highly experienced colleague won’t consider an innovative AR technique. The essay is well worth reading.

What am I missing? Why would a vendor brief a competitive intelligence firm?

While an AR director, each time I received a call from a competitive intelligence (CI) firm analyst requesting information, I would politely decline. When asked why I had declined, I would respond “Why would I give you information that you will turn around and give to my competitors?” This CI types often tried to persuade me by suggesting that I did not want them to have out-of-date information because that could cause them to inaccurately inform their clients. “Hmm,” I would answer, “wouldn’t it be better for my company if you were giving my competitors and their sales representatives inaccurate information so they would be less effective in stealing sales from us?”
 

Analyst myths revisited – “Analysts know everything” still #1 for IT managers and vendors

There are several lists of myths about the IT analysts.  These include Tekrati’s Analyze This: 5 Myths About Analyst Briefings; KCG’s Under the Influence: Myths About International AR; and Valley View Ventures’ IT Industry Analysis Myths. There are probably other lists that I don’t know about, but suffice to say that are plenty of myths to go around.
 
SageCircle first published its list in early 2001 and tweaked it later that year. I’ve used that list ever since, including when I was the Director of Corporate AR at HP. While I have been tempted to add or delete myths, this is still a pretty good list.
 

BusinessWeek on cloud computing – over 4,000 words with only one analyst quote

The BusinessWeek cover story Google and the Wisdom of Clouds weighs in at over 4,100 words over eight prime pages and there is a grand total of one industry analyst quoted: IDC’s Frank Gens with a 19 word tid-bit. Geez. And this lack of analyst quotes is not uncommon in the business press.