James Governor at Redmonk has been told by Gartner that he cannot link to this page on its website.
The page in question is a reprint of the Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence Platforms, 1Q06. You can still access the report (free of charge) directly from the website of the people who bought the reprint, SAS.
The link is also available from our friends at ARmadgeddon.
And Rob Stevens has posted about it too.
It's on the Business Intelligence Knowledge Base where it was posted by someone from SAS and on the Intelliminds news page.
You can read the full story first hand on James' blog (make sure not to miss the comments).
Sometimes you've got to watch in wonder and amazement and just ask "why?"
Update:
For the sake of completeness, Gartner has since apologised. See the comments thread on this post from James.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
A few more analysts in Europe
The analyst firms are busy hiring so there's a host of new analysts who have started covering various sectors of the European market.
I know that there are plenty of others, but here are some of those we have come across recently:
At IDC, Jakob Heckscher has started as a senior research analyst covering the European supply chain management and CRM markets.
Staying at IDC, Joao da Silva has joined the European Mobile and Wireless team, joining Lars, Paolo and Rosie.
Forrester has taken on Phil Sayer in its European Telecoms and Networks team and Ricardo Arruda as an analyst on the Financial Services research team.
And it's not just the big firms.
Canalys continues its expansion. New analysts there in the past couple of months include Pete Cunningham and Mehar Zulfikar.
Quocirca is growing again. Louella Fernandes has started as a principal analyst covering enterprise printing, business intelligence and geo-locational tools. She comes from Canon, where she was European developer relations programme manager. (And while you're checking out Louella's biog, take time to notice the new Quocirca website).
And finally (for now anyway) Freeform Dynamics is also expanding and has hired David Perry. He's specialising in telecoms, networking and security.
I know that there are plenty of others, but here are some of those we have come across recently:
At IDC, Jakob Heckscher has started as a senior research analyst covering the European supply chain management and CRM markets.
Staying at IDC, Joao da Silva has joined the European Mobile and Wireless team, joining Lars, Paolo and Rosie.
Forrester has taken on Phil Sayer in its European Telecoms and Networks team and Ricardo Arruda as an analyst on the Financial Services research team.
And it's not just the big firms.
Canalys continues its expansion. New analysts there in the past couple of months include Pete Cunningham and Mehar Zulfikar.
Quocirca is growing again. Louella Fernandes has started as a principal analyst covering enterprise printing, business intelligence and geo-locational tools. She comes from Canon, where she was European developer relations programme manager. (And while you're checking out Louella's biog, take time to notice the new Quocirca website).
And finally (for now anyway) Freeform Dynamics is also expanding and has hired David Perry. He's specialising in telecoms, networking and security.
Monday, July 03, 2006
More about influence than analysts
My esteemed colleague Antony Mayfield is leaving Harvard PR (a sister firm within the Bell Pottinger Group) to join a search engine optimisation firm, Spannerworks.
What has this got to do with industry analysts? Well, very little.
But Antony's explanation for his move is a real insight into influence and how it could be changing.
His "10 reasons I am leaving PR consultancy to join an SEO" post is well worth a read.
What has this got to do with industry analysts? Well, very little.
But Antony's explanation for his move is a real insight into influence and how it could be changing.
His "10 reasons I am leaving PR consultancy to join an SEO" post is well worth a read.
Mobile analyst goes blonde for charity
Update: Paolo's hair raised £730 for charity. Nice one. 
Paolo Pescatore, from IDC's European mobile and wireless team, has gone blonde. And it's all for charity.
It started as a joke (if you really want to know, you can ask Paolo to tell you the story) but so many people offered to contribute, he decided to go through with it.
Paolo is donating all the money he collects to the Great Ormond Street children's hospital .
Paolo Pescatore, from IDC's European mobile and wireless team, has gone blonde. And it's all for charity.
It started as a joke (if you really want to know, you can ask Paolo to tell you the story) but so many people offered to contribute, he decided to go through with it.
Paolo is donating all the money he collects to the Great Ormond Street children's hospital .
Ovum acquires Summit Strategies; fills 'utility computing' gap
Ovum has acquired Summit Strategies, a US analyst firm.
According to Ovum, this acquisition helps the company fill a gap in its coverage of utility computing.
At a cost of around $1.2 million that's obviously not the only reason. Chris Dines, Ovum CEO, explained: "Summit Strategies brings to us expertise and products in an important and growing area of the IT market. It allows us to develop a stronger relationship with blue-chip IT vendor customers and further strengthens our position in the US market."
The press release specifically names IBM, HP, and Microsoft as three of Summit's blue-chip clients.
I was talking to an ex-Ovum employee this morning. They were generally positive and highlighted similarities with a previous takeover which proved successful for Ovum:
"It seems like a sensible move, although it's not going to change the world. One interesting thing is that in many ways it mirrors the Holway acquisition - a small team with a vendor/market focus that adds specific geographic weight. Ovum knows it can execute on acquisitions like this and get value in the medium term out of them."
UPDATE:
ARmadgeddon has an interesting view on this. Find it here.
According to Ovum, this acquisition helps the company fill a gap in its coverage of utility computing.
At a cost of around $1.2 million that's obviously not the only reason. Chris Dines, Ovum CEO, explained: "Summit Strategies brings to us expertise and products in an important and growing area of the IT market. It allows us to develop a stronger relationship with blue-chip IT vendor customers and further strengthens our position in the US market."
The press release specifically names IBM, HP, and Microsoft as three of Summit's blue-chip clients.
I was talking to an ex-Ovum employee this morning. They were generally positive and highlighted similarities with a previous takeover which proved successful for Ovum:
"It seems like a sensible move, although it's not going to change the world. One interesting thing is that in many ways it mirrors the Holway acquisition - a small team with a vendor/market focus that adds specific geographic weight. Ovum knows it can execute on acquisitions like this and get value in the medium term out of them."
UPDATE:
ARmadgeddon has an interesting view on this. Find it here.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
An insight into Oracle's analyst relations
Buried away in the comments section of a post at ARmadgeddon is an interesting post about Oracle's AR. It's the fifth one in and from an anonymous poster.
Aside from the comments themselves, there's reference to this presentation titled "Interacting with Industry Analysts" by Oracle'sJane Joyce Boland (who was then Senior Director Analyst Relations & Competitive Intelligence) at a UK Product Marketing Forum (UKPMF) event in June 2004.
Although a couple of years old now, it gives some insight in to how Oracle viewed the analysts and how it approached its interactions with them at the time.
(The presentation can also be downloaded from the UKPMF Files page).
Aside from the comments themselves, there's reference to this presentation titled "Interacting with Industry Analysts" by Oracle's
Although a couple of years old now, it gives some insight in to how Oracle viewed the analysts and how it approached its interactions with them at the time.
(The presentation can also be downloaded from the UKPMF Files page).
This is how to make analyst briefings effective
Jason Corsello, an analyst with Yankee Group, has just posted some suggestions "in an effort to make vendor briefings more productive and useful for both parties."
I recommend you read the full post but here's a summary of what he has to say:
1) When it comes to the presentation...less is more.
2) Know your audience.
3) KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).
4) Tell me why you are different.
5) Talk about what makes your customers different.
6) Tell me where you are going to be in 3 years.
7) Passion can not be faked.
If you want your analyst briefings to be effective, following Jason's advice is a good place to start.
I recommend you read the full post but here's a summary of what he has to say:
1) When it comes to the presentation...less is more.
2) Know your audience.
3) KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).
4) Tell me why you are different.
5) Talk about what makes your customers different.
6) Tell me where you are going to be in 3 years.
7) Passion can not be faked.
If you want your analyst briefings to be effective, following Jason's advice is a good place to start.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
A Successor to Spin Bunny?
Is a new UK PR blog about to claim the mantle of the much loved, now dearly departed Spin Bunny?
For now the authors of "The World's Leading Gossip Site for People Working in or around Technology PR" are choosing to stay anonymous, although they are dropping a few tantilising hints (or red herrings) as to who they might be.
Thanks to Will Arnold of Apollo Surveys for pointing it out.
For now the authors of "The World's Leading Gossip Site for People Working in or around Technology PR" are choosing to stay anonymous, although they are dropping a few tantilising hints (or red herrings) as to who they might be.
Thanks to Will Arnold of Apollo Surveys for pointing it out.
Friday, May 19, 2006
New AR blogger
Somill Hwang of Bite has written a great post on the value and true nature of AR.
It's called Analyst Relations - the "other" relations and includes truisms such as:
"It's tough enough to explain PR to my relatives...I don't even bother mentioning AR to my friends and family"
and
"Instead of driving sales via BusinessWeek covers, AR focuses on raising a company's profile during those closed-door moments when customers ask analysts where they should put their money."
It's a back to basics post on what AR should be about. Well worth checking out.
It's called Analyst Relations - the "other" relations and includes truisms such as:
"It's tough enough to explain PR to my relatives...I don't even bother mentioning AR to my friends and family"
and
"Instead of driving sales via BusinessWeek covers, AR focuses on raising a company's profile during those closed-door moments when customers ask analysts where they should put their money."
It's a back to basics post on what AR should be about. Well worth checking out.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Forrester's latest AR Council initiative
Would you invite an AR professional from another company to attend one of your analyst events?
Well now you can, thanks to a new initiative from Forrester Research's AR Council. Eric Lobel, the director of the AR Council in North America, explained to me that the 'Analyst Event Exchange' is being introduced as a result of "great member suggestions." The idea is to "enable members to attend an analyst event conducted by a fellow council member.“
He goes on: "The Event Exchange will allow participants the chance to see first-hand how their peers are conducting every facet of their analyst event. This will create an unprecedented opportunity for information exchange, idea sharing, and professional development."
The initiative has already generated positive feedback from AR Council members, which isn't surprising. I'd certainly be very happy to attend any analyst event should anyone out there care to invite me along. It would be fascinating to see how other AR folk decide what type of event to hold, work out which analysts to invite and how they go about the inviting, prepare their executives, run the briefings and interact with the analysts generally.
But while it's an interesting idea, I do wonder if this can be made to work in practice? Is it really feasible to get someone from another organisation to attend an analyst event, never mind get them involved with every step of the planning and set-up process? Can this stranger's presence be justified to your colleagues, your executives and even the analysts?
So far says Eric, this doesn’t seem to have presented a problem. Those individuals who have expressed interest in attending someone else's event have also volunteered in turn to act as a host. He's aware though that it's still very early days.
Will it work in practice? Who knows - we'll just have to wait and see. Talking to Eric, he’s obviously well aware of the practical challenges that need to be overcome if this initiative is to succeed.
But Forrester has to be applauded for introducing this pilot scheme. The idea of sharing knowledge, ideas and experience between AR professionals is one I support wholeheartedly.
ADDITION
Eric has clarified for me that Forrester doesn't expect guests to be involved in any way, other then as spectators during the event. The hope is for hosts to explain what went into their planning.
Well now you can, thanks to a new initiative from Forrester Research's AR Council. Eric Lobel, the director of the AR Council in North America, explained to me that the 'Analyst Event Exchange' is being introduced as a result of "great member suggestions." The idea is to "enable members to attend an analyst event conducted by a fellow council member.“
He goes on: "The Event Exchange will allow participants the chance to see first-hand how their peers are conducting every facet of their analyst event. This will create an unprecedented opportunity for information exchange, idea sharing, and professional development."
The initiative has already generated positive feedback from AR Council members, which isn't surprising. I'd certainly be very happy to attend any analyst event should anyone out there care to invite me along. It would be fascinating to see how other AR folk decide what type of event to hold, work out which analysts to invite and how they go about the inviting, prepare their executives, run the briefings and interact with the analysts generally.
But while it's an interesting idea, I do wonder if this can be made to work in practice? Is it really feasible to get someone from another organisation to attend an analyst event
So far says Eric, this doesn’t seem to have presented a problem. Those individuals who have expressed interest in attending someone else's event have also volunteered in turn to act as a host. He's aware though that it's still very early days.
Will it work in practice? Who knows - we'll just have to wait and see. Talking to Eric, he’s obviously well aware of the practical challenges that need to be overcome if this initiative is to succeed.
But Forrester has to be applauded for introducing this pilot scheme. The idea of sharing knowledge, ideas and experience between AR professionals is one I support wholeheartedly.
ADDITION
Eric has clarified for me that Forrester doesn't expect guests to be involved in any way, other then as spectators during the event. The hope is for hosts to explain what went into their planning.
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