Gartner, Inc.’s acquisition of META Group has sparked industry discussion about top industry analyst alternatives to Gartner. Tekrati asked seven of the top choices in North America to state their case for technology users and vendors.  In addition, this report highlights two stand-out firms from among the hundreds offering specialized expertise and services.

Top picks include well-known firms — Forrester Research, IDC and AMR Research — and four lesser known firms: Burton Group, Info-Tech Research Group, The 451 Group, and The Advisory Council.

We also highlight two stand-outs among hundreds of firms offering specialized expertise: Nucleus Research and AMI-Partners.

This Tekrati Special Report is divided into several sections. We invite you to comment and trackback at the Tekrati Weblog, using the links at the bottom of each page. To date, two comments have been posted to the Introduction.

• Special Report: Alternatives to Gartner, Introduction: Overview of the special report and listing of the analyst firm spokespeople who responded to our questions.
• Special Report: Alternatives to Gartner, Technology User Viewpoint: Tekrati asked seven of the top choices in North America, “What is the primary reason that former META clients, from the end user community, should short-list your company for their industry research and advisory needs?” Here’s how they responded.
• Special Report: Alternatives to Gartner, Vendor/Provider Viewpoint: Tekrati asked seven of the top choices in North America, “What is the primary reason that former META clients, from the vendor community, should short-list your company for their industry research and advisory needs?” Here’s how they responded.
• Special Report: Alternatives to Gartner, Differentiators against Gartner: Tekrati asked seven of the top choices in North America, “What are the primary characteristics that differentiate your company from Gartner, Inc.?” Here’s how they responded.
• Special Report: Alternatives to Gartner, Free-form Comments: Tekrati asked seven of the top choices in North America, “Any related quotes or comments you would like to provide?” Here’s how they responded.
• Special Report: Alternatives to Gartner, Specialized Expertise Firms: Hundreds of industry analyst firms offer specialized expertise on topics from browsers to globalization to storage to telecommunications. Some serve only technology providers within an industry, some focus on geographical regions, others serve only technology users. Two of the stand-outs in this arena are Nucleus Research and AMI-Partners.