If you’ve been following my blogs or are a client, you’re familiar with my position on alternatives to the tech industry analysts for research and advisory. With this post, I’m bringing these conversations about alternatives to the industry analysts online. This post introduces some basic ideas and examples.

My position is simple: well-respected alternatives are out there; more sources are popping up all the time; only a fool ignores the good ones. Likewise, only a fool rushes in. The supply of ersatz research is bountiful as ever. Caveat emptor.

Today, I see very few cases where the alternatives completely displace the industry analysts. Typically, they coexist as vital resources. Often, they’re served up side-by-side in an integrated information portal available to employees. The alternatives tend to be most useful in 3 scenarios:

• Supporting specific decisions in real time
• Delving into topics that don’t attract dedicated industry analyst coverage
• Helping professionals develop broader, deeper or more inclusive perspectives

So where’s the good stuff? That depends on whether you want data-driven intelligence to help you buy and implement tech, or build and sell it. To start, here’s a short list of examples.

Associations: Long a sales and marketing channel for the tech industry analysts, many associations now offer their own research services to members and the public.  Some groups permit members to conduct custom research and encourage well documented case studies and best practices. Others leverage member-supported research for advocacy and thought leadership. Classic examples include the Consumer Electronics Association, IEEE, NASCIO and Socitm.

Academics: The ongoing disconnect between business and academia, at least here in the U.S., baffles many including me. The mutual disrespect might have been appropriate in years past. It is not today. Here’s the bite: some of the most successful companies in the world know this and fund research.  Classic examples in this category include MIT Sloan School of Management, Stanford University and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Consultants: Management consultants have produced insightful research for decades. This group has the greatest overlap with the industry analysts who advise tech buyers. Classic examples include Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte and  PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Smaller associations, universities, and consultancies can produce equally valuable data-driven insight. Plus, there are several other categories. Media and government agencies jump to mind.

Data-driven insight is available from many reputable sources. IT professionals look to them for information, validation and advice. As a result, tech providers need to see them for what they are: influencers.

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How can industry analysts start relationships with analyst relations professionals? It’s a question posed every day by every analyst wanting to open doors at tech provider firms. Usually, the goal is sales, research or broadening a professional network. Often, analysts want to build rapport with AR pro’s for all 3 reasons. Two posts offer useful pointers on how to succeed:

SageCircle takes an industry insider view on the sales and research front with today’s post, How can small analyst firms get the attention of analyst relations? [Analyst Question] (disclosure: Tekrati is listed as a key resource)

Mashable offers sound advice on the professional networking front with today’s post, 7 Lessons for Better Networking with Social Media

Having influence in some circles does not automatically open doors in others. That applies equally whether you work at Gartner or as a sole proprietor.

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Gartner’s planned acquisition* of AMR Research sparked some vibrant conversation this week. Alex Williams posting on it at ReadWriteWeb Enterprise asked my perspective. With his OK, I’m sharing our offline exchange, which focused on enterprise supply chain decision makers.

Enterprises have been putting up with quite a bit of churn and staffing reductions among their analyst firms during this recession, and AMR Research is no exception. Still, AMR Research merging into Gartner signals the loss of yet another independent voice in the enterprise tech marketplace.

Gartner is not simply buying AMR Research business contracts. Gartner is buying the attention and trust that enterprise decision makers invest in AMR Research. That’s what will determine the lifetime value of the AMR Research clients. Attention and trust are the stakes.

The difficulty supply chain decision makers face is that they can’t easily transfer their trust in AMR Research to another analyst firm. Their biggest obstacle is limited choice. Few analyst firms come close to AMR Research in terms of size, expertise, track record, culture and clientele. The choices are:

• the giants — Gartner, Forrester, Informa/Ovum
• a few companies with dedicated teams, such as ARC Advisory and IDC Insights
• a sprinkling of qualified supply chain experts among the hundreds of small analyst firms and one-person shops

Companies comfortable with the AMR Research company culture will need to think about chemistry as much as content when considering Gartner, Forrester Research, ARC Advisory Group and IDC Insights.

The small and one-person consultancies already include several former AMR Research analysts. Decision makers comfortable with betting on the jockey, rather than the horse, will find familiar faces in this group.

What about replacing AMR Research with advisors who do not wear an analyst badge? Most decision makers already listen to several types of experts, at least in the early stages of their decision process. So in reality, this is a question of whether to direct more attention and trust to current advisors whether they be peers, consultants, etc.

My advice to AMR Research clients and partners: take a fresh look at your decision support ecosystem while you’re on honeymoon with Gartner. Assess everyone who has your ear, not just the analysts. It’s a good time to ask, “who are the smartest people on the kinds of supply chain issues we have, and do we confer with them?”

* Tekrati news coverage: joint Gartner financial release, AMR Research commentary, Gartner AR webcast

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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 for inviting me!

And please take note:  Drop me a line if you’re not a member of the Council and you’re interested in attending. To be considered for guest entry, you must work in AR in an inhouse position.

Forrester Leadership Boards - Analyst Relations Council Fall Member Meeting
Marriott Magnificent Mile
Chicago, IL

“Looking Ahead: The Future of AR”
Wednesday, Wednesday, October 7 starting at 2:35PM
Where is AR going? How is AR changing to align with the growing phenomenon of so many smaller firms, independent analysts, and emerging influencers joining large firms in the influence mix? Hear one market expert’s opinion about future risks and opportunities for AR and lend your own to the mix.

See you there!

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It sounds so simple: tell me your definition of an industry analyst. In truth, coming up with a viable definition for the tech “industry analyst” is not such a simple exercise. Clear-cut distinctions between industry analysts and other types of influencers have been dissolving over the last few years.

From 2006 to 2008, I helped the industry come to some common understanding by writing and curating the base Wikipedia article on industry analysts. It doesn’t quite do the job anymore.

Today, definitions of the industry analyst role run into trouble on several fronts. You’ve got big differences in the balance of research and consulting revenue streams at the largest to the smallest of analyst firms. There’s also competition from more and more quarters, including diverse businesses, organizations and social media groups publishing “good enough” research and vendor reviews, not to mention decision advice and thought leadership. Then too, there’s the growing number of SOHO professionals who take the label.

Hard and fast rules for what constitutes an industry analyst may work on paper, but they rarely hold up in the marketplace. Behind closed doors, tech decision makers and vendor AR teams alike regularly debate the criteria for what constitutes an industry analyst.

I think the conversation about what’s an analyst — the debate itself — is the answer.

Instead of aiming for one rock-solid definition that fits all analysts all the time, we can make deciding who’s in and who’s out part of an ongoing process. Each of us can make it our own process. Involve our customers and supply chain partners. Involve our salesforce. Revisit our assumptions, criteria and earlier judgements in a fluid never-ending process.

From an execution standpoint, this only works if we ask the tough questions regularly. We can’t wait for a decision event or a crisis to ponder whether someone is, or is not, an industry analyst.

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Someday, every ICT industry influencer on the planet will include aspects of green or ‘environmentally responsible’ within their area of tech expertise.  And someday, every influencer relations program will embrace these ideas.  Someday.

Today, it seems appropriate to mark Earth Day with a shout out to some of the pioneers. Here’s a small sampling of some notable industry and competitive analysts doing their level best to influence decisions about Green IT.

John Gartner, a contributing analyst at the newly formed Pike Research: “As the grid continues to age, power gets more expensive, and the headroom above peak loading get smaller, so utilities will need consumers’ active participation — or at least permission to automate power reductions — more often. Having consumers willingly participate in demand response programs and shifting consumption to off peak hours is much cheaper (and publicly acceptable) than building more power plants.”

David Tebbutt at Freeform Dynamics: “I’m not a tree hugger or a do gooder but it seems to me that we need more than lip service paid to the idea of sustainability.”

Tom Raftery at Greenmonk: gives talks on “Electricity 2.0 - applying the lessons of the Internet to our Energy networks.” He’s posted a slideshare of his latest O’Reilly Emerging Tech talk.

One of the most impressive hires in the analyst community: Stephen Stokes, at AMR Research. Enough said.

Competitive analysis firm Current Analysis: Jason Marchek takes coverage to the next level with a Eco-Sustainability Tracker Advisory Report series, launched just in time for Earth Day. The Advisory Reports are intended to build a timeline that tracks significant green marketing programs/initiatives. In doing so, this will establish some context through which ongoing environmental sustainability initiatives can be more consistently evaluated.

Greentechmedia: offers webcasts and sponsored reports on strategies for success in growing cleantech business.

Please post your own additions & comment on these folks.  All valid influencers and all types of influencers are welcome.

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Influencers often have a say in the purchase critieria used by decision-makers. Often their influence is direct, such as inputing to a request for bid. Indirect influence is an important factor as well. While the most widely known (or perhaps infamous) example in the tech market is Gartner’s Magic Quadrant, most indirect influences are far from obvious. Influencer relations programs search out and track these influencers, for action or simple monitoring.

 

Here’s the kind of thing you want to find: This week, Jon Peddie (JPA) proposes a change in the benchmark criteria for graphics-enabled motherboards. Jon makes the case that today’s consumer wants the most performance per dollar, with the lowest wattage. He’s put the 3 factors together into a simple-looking equation and calls it the PDW mark (performance-dollar-watts).

Will it be adopted overnight? Hard to say.

It’s this sort of low-flying advice that can ripple out across entire markets over time. If you run an influencer relations program, keep track of the shift in thinking as well as the drivers behind the shift. This is vital information for your sales and management teams.

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The influencer ecosystem for enterprise cloud computing shifted here in the US today with Burton Group formally entering the tech research and advisory fray. The launch moves them directly into the line of influence with all of their clients, because they already cover the primary tech and service areas that make up cloud computing and because they are offering all active clients immediate access to the cloud service for a limited time.

When Burton Group talks about clients, it’s talking about tech decision-makers at Fortune 500 / Global 1000 companies with annual revenues of $12bn and up.

In truth, Burton Group has been influencing enterprise cloud computing decisions under the public radar for some time now. Drue Reeves, who heads cloud computing research, explained, “Cloud computing touches on everything we cover, from security and privacy to SLAs and compliance to data centers and storage.” Clients are ready to talk about where cloud computing makes sense and where it doesn’t in their particular circumstance.

He said that clients have been probing into cloud computing within the individual Burton service areas to such an extent that it was a natural choice to add cloud to their all-in-one IT1 service.

IT1 is a popular alternative to traditional service- and seat-based pricing. According to Gary Hein, service director for cloud computing, IT1 accounts for as much as half of Burton Group revenues. IT1 provides enterprise-wide all-you-eat access to all Burton research along with perks such as analyst face time and designated research assistants. IT1 subscribers have exclusive access to enterprise architecture (EA) and ITIL, and now cloud computing.

Cloud computing will be a primary focus at Burton Group Catalyst Conference 2009, from keynotes and dedicated sessions to content woven into tech-specific tracks. In addition, the service is publishing a half dozen reports including new titles on cloud computing and recent titles covering key strategy and decision areas. You can also catch an introductory teleconference on May 20th.

Here’s more of my Q&A with Drue and Gary, followed by the list of analysts adding cloud to their coverage.

Q: What’s the average price for an IT1 subscription?
A: It’s negotiated individually with each enterprise.

Q: Are you increasing the pricing of IT1 now that you’ve added cloud computing?
A: No. This year there are no price increases. Usually, you would expect small increases, not this year. This makes sense when you consider IT1 is driving up our usage rates and contract value.

Q: Where have you cut back on coverage to accommodate this expansion?
A: We have not made cuts in coverage.

Q: Do you expect cloud computing to catch on for the long-term? or is this another tech fad?
A: We do expect it to catch on. It’s not dissipating in any way. We think it will catch on because the issues it addresses (cost and complexity of IT, need for greater agility, etc.) will not go away.

Q: Why are IT professionals becoming so comfortable so quickly with cloud computing?
A: They are already familiar with cloud concepts. And, they have some wins in these areas. That gives them confidence.

Q: What’s the short answer to the difference between IT outsourcing, hosting and cloud computing?
A: The 3 are distinct but the boundaries between them are blurry. Putting it very simply: cloud uses an on-demand business model; outsourcing entails contracting specific resources; hosting entails contracting specific physical resources.

Some people are presenting cloud as all internal or all external. There are lots of different patterns for this, including some use of internal clouds or “private” clouds. It’s also more a case of a steady migration. You might move from internal virtualization to hosted solutions to cloud. Our customers are evolving in hybrid models — such as introducing SaaS then adding EC2 for compute infrastructure.

Q: Are your clients concerned about their staffs or jobs being replaced by the cloud?
A: There’s a little sensitivity. On the whole, though, cloud computing should free up resources from mundane tasks — such as patch management — so they can focus on the more strategic projects. Also, there may be a shift, with jobs moving to cloud providers.

Q: Are you going to cover green clouds?
A: We already do, through the data center strategies services. That rolls up to the cloud coverage. And, we don’t say green. We say energy efficiency.

Cloud computing - Burton influencers

The core analyst team is adding cloud coverage to their ongoing coverage areas:
Drue Reeves: Research Director, virtualization, compute, storage
Bob Blakely: Identity, security
Anne Thomas Manes: Platform, development
Dave Passmore: Networking, service providers
Guy Creese: Collaboration, content
Dan Blum: Security, risk management
Chris Haddad: Platform, development
Marcus Collins: Database, data management
Chris Howard: CxO messaging, business drivers
Gary Hein: Service Director

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I attended last week’s IDC Directions09 conference in San Jose, courtesy of IDC in light of my role as an industry analyst watcher and blogger. It was one of the best that I can remember, and I’ve been to a few over the years. The theme, content and speakers were good — but that’s not why I’m giving it 2 thumbs up.

For me, the highest value was professional networking. To a great extent, I credit the relaxed and comfortable atmosphere. That’s not easy to achieve with an audience of 1,000+. The hallway conversations were non-stop. Analyst 1-on-1s were a central attraction, yet there wasn’t hustle for the sake of hustle — no people-to-see-places-to-go pretensions in the air. You could pick out — and get to — faces in the crowd with ease, yet the crowd was large enough to fill the space, even during Nicholas Carr’s closing keynote.

I can’t stress enough the importance of this aspect of any analyst conference for this year and beyond. None of us — well, few of us here in San Jose — see ourselves as Mohammed going to the mountain when we attend these analyst conferences.

Today, we don’t go to these events just to hear analysts present. We don’t want to play powerpoint roulette with our brains. This is an attention economy. We go to mingle with analysts, look them in the eye and take the measure of their company. We go to meet and have intelligent conversations with other attendees. We go to become better informed, and therefore more powerful influencers in our own right. And if there’s some juicy industry gossip sprinkled in, all the better.

IDC understands that.

I’ll be posting more about the event over the next day. Meanwhile, if you can, attend IDC Directions 2009 in Boston next week. Or, catch it in Singapore, India, China, Japan, Australia or New Zealand.

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R “Ray” Wang has posted a synopsis of his role as an industry analyst. Ray is with Forrester Research. His clients include tech buyers and tech providers. As a result, his straightforward summary describes the main roles that many analysts play in the tech industry.

I noticed that Ray doesn’t focus on describing his influence. He doesn’t call out his role as an influencer in the enterprise software market. Instead, he describes how he helps clients and how he creates intellectual property for Forrester through his research, analysis, consulting, and reports.

Many important influencers avoid the “influencer” label. It’s not the way they talk about themselves.

They leave such determinations to people like us here at Influencer50, who identify and score influencers on a market by market, client by client basis.

There’s no magic formula for being a great analyst or a great influencer. Ray’s a great role model for both.

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