Make sure to attend relevant Magic Quadrant presentations at Symposium ITxpo Marketplace Theater (part 4 of 7 about Gartner’s Q3 AR Call)

Gartner’s Analyst Relations team holds a quarterly conference call for the analyst relations (AR) community. SageCircle occasionally will post about the call, but for this particular call there was so much information that we have a seven-part series to highlight details and provide commentary. See below for links to all seven posts.

One of the recommendations that the Gartnerians gave on the AR Call was to attend some Magic Quadrant (MQ) presentations at the ITxpo Theater. This is a suggestion that we heartily endorse.

AR professionals are probably so tired of thinking about the MQ and arguing with the analysts – especially if the update project was relatively recent – that it would be easy to blow off this opportunity. However, attending a presentation like this can provide some excellent opportunities to gather some insights such as:

• How analysts tend to position the research to end-user clients
• How analysts engage their end-user clients when answering questions about the MQ
• Intelligence when the MQ might be updated
• Intelligence about how the market criteria are evolving
• Intelligence about how the analyst might rearrange the dots if it has been many months since the last update

SageCircle Technique:

• AR teams should identify and prioritize which MQ presentations to attend
• AR should chat with the end users after a presentation to learn more about how they use the MQ as a decision support tool for purchasing decisions

Gartner’s Magic Quadrant and its younger sibling the Forrester Wave can impact billions of dollars of corporate IT purchases. Some IT vendor executives put too much emphasis on “moving the dot,” which drains resources from the overall AR plan. Other vendors decide to ignore these signature research pieces, missing an opportunity to leverage an effective marketing channel. SageCircle’s Magic Quadrant: “Moving the Dot” webinar will provide you with insights about the MQ and Wave, a framework for deciding what priority to give a MQ/Wave campaign, and best practices for achieving your objectives. Click here for more information and to register for the next session on October 5, 2009 at 8 am US Pacific Time.

Bottom Line: The normal interactions between analysts and vendors on a Magic Quadrant update do not reflect how end users perceive and use the MQ. Attending a MQ presentation at Symposium can provide AR with valuable insights that will assist in planning the next “moving the dot” campaign.

Question: AR – Do have your Magic Quadrant ranked as a major initiative in your AR Strategic & Plan or do you handle MQ updates as an ad hoc activity? Gartner Analysts – Do you like to have vendors sit in on MQ presentations at Symposium?

1. Prepping for Gartner Symposium
2. Don’t bring your CEO to Symposium and expect to brief the analysts
3. Cost optimization at Symposium will be a critical thread to follow for vendors
4. Make sure to attend relevant Magic Quadrant presentations at Symposium ITxpo Marketplace Theater
5. The CIO Panel is reason enough to attend the AR Forum at Symposium
6. Evidence Sidebar – Gartner needs to discuss end user inquiry data points
7. Gartner’s updated Vendor Research Escalation Process

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