By Barbara French and Gideon Gartner (@bfr3nch, www.barbarafrench.net, @gideongartner, www.gideongartner.com) In the first part of this post, we challenged an urban myth that small analyst firms are threatening the Gartner and Forrester Research business models. We as yet see no compelling evidence. What we do see is many small advisory firms performing vital roles in the IT ecosystem, a few … Read More
Advisory Industry Competition: Pushing Past ‘Business as Usual’
By Gideon Gartner (@gideongartner, www.gideongartner.com) and Barbara French (@bfr3nch, www.barbarafrench.net) There’s a good deal of speculation on whether the research and advisory business is entering a new phase — one in which small Advisory firms may be thriving at the expense of the large firms. David Hatch summed up this point of view in a comment to “Advisory Industry, a … Read More
Harnessing the Groundswell – new book by Bernoff and Schadler
While the wildly successful “Groundswell” book by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff continues winning acclaim — most recently from the American Marketing Association — Josh has announced work in progress on a new book. This time, he’s teamed with Ted Schadler as co-author. The title is “Harnessing the Groundswell: Drive Your Business With Empowered Employees and Customers”. The authors say … Read More
Influencer relations friday gossip
What’s up this week in influencer relations? Here’s what I’ve been talking about offline when the conversation rolls around to, “So what’s up? Anything I need to know?” This week the gossip has centered around analyst blogs, HP and Dell. Feel free to add your nuggets. EDS = HP. HP retired the EDS brand this week. Time to update your … Read More
Join me for Looking Ahead: The Future of AR
Where is analyst relations going? How is it changing? What are the implications for people and programs? What can you do about it? I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be leading a discussion on these points early next month with the Forrester Research Analyst Relations Council. It will be a lively exchange with practical and worthy ideas. Special thanks to Trisha Mirel … Read More
Putting CIO peer groups into perspective
It’s a sure bet that when CIO and IT decision makers gather in groups, tech sales people circle nearby, angling to slip into the crowd. The common wisdom is that every member of these groups is a sales target. Each member is ripe with purchasing potential. That’s certainly a practical way for tech providers to look at IT peer groups. … Read More
What’s the corporate business value of AR?
Forrester Research’s Kevin Lucas raises a good question: what core corporate business value can your analyst relations program deliver? His point is that AR programs shouldn’t commit to delivering sales value unless there’s good reason to do so. As logical as that advice may sound, I don’t agree with it. Analyst relations programs can be designed to deliver on a … Read More
Special Report: Alternatives to Gartner
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 … Read More
Special Report: The State of Analyst Weblogs, Part 2
As professional opinion leaders and market experts, industry analysts face three key challenges as bloggers: credibility, relevance and passion. Tekrati explores these challenges and how different analyst groups address them, as we continue this special report on industry analyst blogs. Related stories offer in-depth comments from selected analysts, and a reading list that links directly to analyst commentary on blogs … Read More
Forrester’s Giga Deal
Recent consolidation among industry analyst firms reached a climax today with Forrester Research (Nasdaq: FORR) announcing that it is initiating a tender offer for Giga Information Group (OTCBB: GIGX). Forrester outlined the rationale and anticipated benefits to shareholders and clients during an investor briefing. See bottom of this page for links to other industry analyst consolidation news. Forrester and Giga … Read More