I will shortly be publishing the new list of top analyst blogs. This list has been compiled from Tekrati’s excellent blog directory. This league table will take into account new analyst hires and firms as well as a tweaked methodology.

I have taken the feedback I have received from the previous research and modified the methodology.

Scores are now calculated as follows:

Google PageRank – Google PageRank is a link analysis algorithm that interprets web links and assigns a numerical weighting (0 to 10) to each site. High-quality sites receive a higher PageRank. The ranking uses the actual PageRank as part of its algorithm.

Yahoo Inbound Links [date unlimited] – Yahoo counts the total number of inbound links that go directly to a blog. Each number was assigned to a range which was then used as part of the algorithm.

Google Inbound Links [3 months date limited] – Google allows people to search the number of inbound links to a specific blog but limit this to a predefined date period. Similar to how Technorati only looks at six months of data, this method was used in combination with the Yahoo Inbound Link count to assess which blogs were considered to be important due to the number of links that came to them, but also currently relevant as measured by the limitations on the timescale. Each number was assigned to a range which was then used as part of the algorithm.

Google Reader Subscribers – Google reader lists the total number of subscribers to a blog. I believe this is a more realistic number to that which Bloglines provides. Mihai Parparita confirms that “these numbers include subscribers across all Google services”. To account for people using other readers (e.g. Newsgator) it has been suggested that this number is multiplied by 3. Subscriber ranges were determined (i.e. more than 20, more than 30, etc.) and each range was assigned a number that was used as part of the algorithm.

Frequency of Posts – Updating relevant and interesting content frequently onto a blog will naturally cause more people to find this blog important. This score is established via Google Reader to understand the precise number of posts per week that the blogger makes. Frequency numbers were determined and assigned to a range that was used as part of the algorithm.

Date Last Blog Post Published – Working in combination with ‘Frequency of Posts’, this score mitigates against blogs that were once popular but haven’t been updated for a long time. The number of days since the last blog post was calculated and assigned to a range which was used as part of the algorithm.

Comments – A simple way to judge how valuable a blog is to other people is through the number of comments (where this is enabled) that visitors make. In a similar way to linking and subscribing this user requested service shows a significant value. The number of comments made over the last five posts were calculated and assigned to a range which was used as part of the algorithm.

Twitter Inbound Links – There are various online tools available to count the number of links inbound to a blog from Twitter. Backtype was used to count the number of these occurrences over the past five blog posts. The number of times this happened was calculated and assigned a range which was used as part of the algorithm.

Weighting – Each specific variable listed above was given a standard score out of 10. Using a weighting scale I varied the importance of the each metric to establish a blogs total score.

Contentious conversation 1 – integrity of analysts and the future of AR

Blog my Tom Bittman from Gartner – A Rant – My Integrity as an Analyst

Summary: Gartner analyst angry that he has to justify his integrity

My view: Edelman trust barometer consistently shows that over the past few years analysts are the most trusted

Key comments: Vinnie Mirchandani questioning whether Gartner’s reliance on large vendor subscriptions means that their reports are truly representative

What this means:

There is an ongoing fight regarding how independent an analyst can be if they receive money from vendors. Whereas some firms in the past have been ‘White Paper for hire’ houses, they tend to lose industry respect very quickly and go bust. What can not be in doubt is that in subscribing to an analyst house, you have the ability to pay for more time in front of the analysts leading to a greater chance to educate them – often this will result in a more favourable position. I am not saying that to be successful in AR you need to have subs, it is more a case of – it helps.

The secondary argument (and possibly more important) is by having a look at who the key participants in this debate are. On one side we have the analyst and the other we have the IT advisor. The latter group frequently comes from an analyst background (see Vinnie Mirchandani, ex-Gartner; Ray Wang, ex-Forrester) but in their current role do not have a research agenda. By default this does not make them (in their mind) an analyst.

However, I believe we are playing semantics. Our view in AR needs to be simple: if they affect IT buying then they are an influencer and need to be dealt with accordingly. AR most closely deals with these individuals – we may need to adapt a different name so that they don’t get upset by being labelled analysts but they will remain a key audience for us to engage with and should continue to enjoy the same disclosure benefits that traditional analysts enjoy. With the growth of firms like Altimeter Group, this fundamental shift towards a larger influencer group will become more important than ever over the next few years.

Contentious conversation 2 – analysts liable for ‘incorrect’ positioning

Article in IT Knowledge Exchange – Email archiving vendor sues Gartner over Magic Quadrant

Summary: Claiming that Gartner’s MQ constitute “disparaging, false/misleading, and unfair statements” about its email archiving product that have done damage to its sales prospects, ZL filed suit for damages of $132 million to account for lost sales.

My view: This fight has caused great PR for ZL but someone’s position in an MQ should not be a surprise. If a vendor believes they are unfairly positioned the time to argue this point is before the quadrant is published.

Key comments:

The power of a positive ranking in Gartner is immense because it is often the case that large purchases of technology are based exclusively on the MQ Reports…For instance, the Office of the Inspector General, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently conducted an investigation into the use of the Gartner’s MQ reports in connection with the VA’s $16,000,0000 purchase of certain leases and services from Dell. The Office of Inspector General reported that the VA made this large purchase based solely on the leadership rankings in the relevant Gartner MQ report. (source: initial complaint)

In Mark Logic’s excellent analysis of this case, he makes the following comment about whether having the best technology means that someone should be positioned superior to another company who simply has better sales and marketing.

While Ingres arguably had the best database technology in the 1980s, Oracle’s sales and marketing prowess caused it to win the market and any analyst who — focused solely on the technology — would have recommended Ingres at that time would have done his customers a disservice.”

What this means:

Like it or not, Gartner are the original 800lb gorilla. Whether it is right or wrong, the fact remains that their MQ inherently has an influence in IT buying behaviour. What AR pros need to do is work with the analyst ideally six months prior to any publication to fully understand what success criteria are to be better positioned as a leader and work towards those goals. A great way to understand how to work with an MQ can be seen in the great IIAR White Paper.

We have to accept that the firm with the best technology does not always win (see Betamax vs. VHS) – for a company to be successful, they will need to have a great product that is complemented by a sound go-to-market strategy. Luckily for us this is where AR can help.

The IIAR (Institute of Industry Analyst Relations) has completed, via AR guru Peggy O’Neill, a certification test for everyone in this industry. As the analyst profession has matured it has become more important than ever for professionals to master best practices, analyst protocol, and basic knowledge of the industry.

This certification will form the foundation level for an Advanced AR Certification, which is currently under development.

Why is this important?

This test will allow people to show their skills in a way that is often intangible. I know from my own experience, that it is difficult enough to explain what it is I do for a living, so how are you meant to explain to your peers, superiors and potential hirers that you are as good as you are when they don’t even understand AR themselves.

On a more practical level this test is essential to help individuals who may think they know it all (looking at myself here) to understand the areas they need to brush up their skills on.

Example question

   a) Gartner acquired META Group
   b) Forrester acquired Jupiter Research
   c) Datamonitor acquired Bloor Research
   d) IDC acquired Meridien Research

If you want to try a sample test, you can click here – (I’ll let you know the result of the above question at the end of the post)

This is a pretty tough test with 120 multi-choice questions to be answered in one hour (i thought I had left exams behind me after university). It’s not meant to be easy and those that who have tried it all passed with flying colours. A score of 70% is considered passing, and if test takers fail, they can re-take it in three months.

Analyst relations managers who pass the test are considered “certified” by the IIAR. Certifications are deemed lifetime and applicants do not need to re-take the test periodically. The test is administered by the IIAR and is available for members and non-members. The fee is £100 for non-members and includes the opportunity for one retake if candidates initially fail the test. The exam is free for IIAR members but is not mandatory for membership.

If you practice AR and are not part of the IIAR, it’s worth joining…

I admit I am biased as I am a founding member and board member of this association but it is worth it. From sharing best practice on getting the ideal placement in an MQ or Forrester Wave to discussion with your peers about how to solve a particular issue – this group helps AR as its raise d’être. This certification is just another example of how the IIAR aims to help and promoted the analyst relations profession. Oh, and the answer to the above question is ‘c’.

Recommending reading: IIAR blog, IIAR twitter, press release 

Pop quiz…

Question: what do you get if you combine the analyst of the year (Ray Wang), the analyst blogger of the year  and author of Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies (Charlene Li), the most influential social media analyst (Jeremiah Owyang) and the previous lead of the Social Media Lab at Proctor & Gamble (@debs) in one analyst firm?

Answer: The superstars or the galacticos of the IT advisory world – now currently partners at Altimeter Group.

There has been a great deal of speculation ever since Jeremiah announced he was leaving Forrester as to where he would end up. The result is an incredibly smart one.

Ever since Charlene jumped the ship and setup Altimeter her mission has been to focus less upon future trends to a more pragmatic customer-focused model. She explains:

Instead of worrying about the next wave of technology, focus on what your customers are using – or not using yet.

I was fortunate enough to have a conversation with Jeremiah to understand what the future brings…

What is Altimeter Group?

We are a company that focused on emerging technologies. Whereas yesteryear people looked at faxes and mobiles – now the focus is social media. Now the big disrupter is social. Change is coming at an increased pace but companies don’t have a policy to respond. Altimeter aims to help companies by evaluating technologies, identify key players and let people test in a safe setting.

The future of business requires a holistic approach to adapting and integrating emerging technologies.

Are you an analyst house?

We are not an analyst firm  – we are consultants. This is because an analyst is someone who has a research agenda. Instead we would like to have a few select relationships with clients and guide them through this process.

What are you each going to cover?

Ray mentioned specifically that he is:

Looking at bridging today’s world of enterprise apps with the E2.0 world of connected business platforms

What’s unique to Altimeter Group?

One of our key announcements is The Hanger

Physical and virtual spaces to facilitate experimentation

I think this is a great idea as it will enable that testing station in a safe environment to evaluate the most appropriate technology for a client. Surely this is better than installing it, paying thousands on consultancy support only to find it was the wrong thing to do.

How do you hope to remain as influential now that you have left Forrester?

It’s quite interesting to see that I have already lost quite a few subscriptions from my blog after I left. Some people value the Forrester brand over mine. However, what I am after is to seek fewer relationships more in a deeper capacity. I want to have long term relationships with clients

What type of customers will you be targeting?

Primarily these will be large brands. However, we would also expect a small set of clients to be vendors who want help with their product. The percentage split will still be more end users./brands vs. vendors. The priority will always be  to help the buyers first.

You are all based in the US – any thoughts of having a more global reach – or does this not matter as social media enables global communities?

If things go well, we will go where our clients are but no plans yet.

Opinion

There are two major impacts on this announcement.

The first is understanding how the business model has changed. Jeremiah positions his company via an analogy of a general contractor for a building project. What they want to do is ensure that the blueprints and plans are right before anything is built. I like this model as it is far more pragmatic for buyers.

From an AR point of view, the main difference is that they are not analysts.

They are not out to replace Forrester. In fact, what they are set to do is complement analyst thinking. They are a small company based in the US that is not out to compete against Forrester think it is a moot point in the whole definition game of ‘what is an analyst’ – the key thing to remember from an AR perspective is that they are influencers in the buying process and must be respected and engaged with as such.

End note: This post was meant to be published at 5pm UK when the embargo was lifted. However, seeing as this has now been broken and Ray Wang has given permission for it to go early, this has now been posted.

@jonnybentwood

Honesty, integrity, knowledge, curiosity, insight, passion, respect and influence

These characteristics were repeatedly highlighted when AR Pro’s were asked to identify the analyst house and individual who they wanted to recognise as being the best in the industry. This second post in the “analyst of the year” series aims to highlight individuals and firms who are seen as the best in the industry regardless of their speciality sector. See here for the first post.

At a time when vendors are having to evaluate carefully where they should invest their limited funds, it is refreshing to see best-of-class analysts receiving recognition for the value they deliver. Now, more than ever before, analysts have to prove their tangible worth and those that provide independence, integrity, flexibility and deep industry knowledge of their specific areas are being recognised as true partners for vendors and IT buyers.

Without further ado, here are the results:

Global Analyst of the Year

This is an incredible coup for Ray having been named the analyst of the year in 2008. Some people have argued whether his influence will diminish now that he has left Forrester but in my opinion, when we get to the cream of the analysts, companies seeking to work with analyst houses tend to invest in the individual rather than the firm they work for. Ray has of course now left Forrester and joined Charlene Li as a Partner at Altimeter Group looking at bridging today’s world of enterprise apps with the E2.0 world of connected business platforms. Commenting on this award, he explained:

It’s a great honor to be recognized by the IIAR, especially in a year where clients challenge analysts to provide more actionable and personalized advice.   As we rely more on social media tools to improve client delivery and outreach, I’m often reminded not to forget the other part of the equation – building strong relationships.  In fact the best AR pro’s I work with master the art of fostering strong relationships and understand that art often trumps science when dealing with people.

I mentioned this last point in the previous post but believe it is worth reiterating as to why so many European analysts tend to feature so well. At first analysis, I was immediately concerned over the relatively high number of awards that have gone to EMEA-based analysts and firms thinking that this was due to the physical location of the voters.

However, 72% of all respondents were based in the US or Canada.

My personal view is that whereas a great deal of syndicated research tends to get created and published from the US, the European analysts have to rely on their revenue stream coming from their local market knowledge, deep messaging insights and customer focus. To put it bluntly, they need to prove value otherwise they will be out of a job. This point may well be the most contentious and I am happy to discuss this point further.

Global Analyst House of the Year

This year has seen the larger, global firms dominate the awards when it comes to sector importance. It is of little surprise therefore that when it came to picking an individual firm who represented the highest value, Gartner came top. Their success should not be underestimated. In a time when many firms are cutting back on their analyst expenditure, the fact that the Gartner remains so highly recommended (even though they are far from cheap) is tantamount to the calibre of people they have working for them as well as their relevance and influence they bring to the table. Peter Sondergaard, SVP & Global Head of Research, Gartner was delighted at Gartner’s recognition and explained:

We really value this feedback from the analyst relations community as we are fully committed to constantly improving the quality of our products and the service we provide to all our clients worldwide.

I am especially pleased to see that Ovum and AMR can be recognised after they both missed winning ‘importance’ awards by sector by coming in fourth place. As an aside, and similar the UK premier league, it is always refreshing and healthy for there to be a highly competitive market where the larger firms cannot rest on their laurels and must continue to innovate or be overtaken by the competition.

EMEA Analyst of the Year

It has been a great year in Europe for boutiques. These firms, more than any, have had to challenge traditional analyst business models and the boundaries in which they operate such that the art of defining what an analyst is and does has had to change. Nevertheless, a few firms with considerably fewer analysts have seen their share of voice rise disproportionately – within the market they are recognised by AR Pros as being able to contribute a level of service that is exemplary. Jon Collins, who has recently taken over the role as MD at Freeform Dynamics explained upon receiving his award:

I’m delighted to be called out, I see this as a vote of confidence not just for me but the whole Freeform Dynamics team, not to mention its collaborative philosophy and approach, which keeps us all grounded in the real world of mainstream IT usage and makes this job such a pleasure to do. 

EMEA Analyst House of the Year

Gartner once again steal the show. With a solid presence of industry experts, they are recognised as being the best in the region. However, a significant number of ‘boutiques’ also make the top 5 – edging out likely candidates such as IDC and Ovum. In the previous post I explained that it is of little surprise that firms are cutting back and focusing on the analyst houses that have the greatest global reach. However, it is somewhat refreshing that other houses have managed to carve out their own niches – notably: Verdantix and Quocirca in the green IT space and RedMonk and MWD in the developer/ IT Pro sector. It is in these smaller, areas where ‘boutique’ firms have managed to push their own USP and become sector leaders.

Comparing important analysts and ‘analyst of the year’

it’s quite an interesting dichotomy between the analysts who were voted as most important by their coverage areas (as it highlights perceived expertise) compared to the analyst of the year overall ranking. The characteristics that stand-out amongst this crowd are difficult to combine but necessary to be a good analyst:

• Social/Relationship (ease to deal with)
• Domain Expertise
• Influence/Presentation skills

Final thoughts

My congratulations go to all the firms and individuals who have been recognised with awards. The third and final post to be published in a couple of weeks will look at which firms provide the greatest offering for bespoke research, consulting/inquiry and reports. It will also identify which firms have increased in relevance the most over the past year and the key reasons why people tend to work with analysts in the first place.

As I complete this second post, a statement that Vinnie Mirchandani made to me when I was discussing the definition of an industry analyst sticks to my mind:

"analysts" are just a small subset of a 1000 points of influence

Regardless of the debate regarding ‘who is an analyst?’ – a clear point remains. We work in a time where those that can influence buying decisions are in high demand. If analysts wish to remain a significant player within this, they must continue to offer the level of service and value that the firms and individuals who have been recognised by the IIAR in these awards provide.

Methodology

1) Entrants:

This survey was open to anyone who works in analyst relations in any country, either in-house or at an agency/consultancy. In order for someone’s entry to be validated, they had to submit their email address and company name to verify they not an impostor trying to distort the results. This personal information will not be distributed or used beyond sending copies of the results to all participant. The survey was open for specific period of time and IP addresses were taken to ensure that someone could not vote twice. A total of 137 AR Pros completed this survey.

2) Questions:

The survey specifically focused on an individual’s perception of the analyst world. A full list of every analyst house was made available for respondents to select their preference.

3) Segmentation:

Respondents were asked to specify their submissions based upon geography and segment. Based upon these criteria further analysis could be made of the results to identify specific regional or segment champions.

If you have any questions or comments about this survey please contact me (@jonnybentwood)

Note: This post is also published on the IIAR web site

Via: Geek and Poke

And an old one that is worth showing again…

How analysts make predictions?

Via: GAF, courtesy of Dilbert

Courtesy of @wonky_donky at the Naked Pheasant. More to the point, he thinks I am algorithm-obsessed. He is partially true (I am sort-of embarrassed to say) – but fear not, something is cooking and will share all soon.

Caption from “Mad Avenue Blues" – a superb parody of Digital Marketing set to the tune of American Pie. – Courtesy of @jacqui_cooper

There are several arguments that you can be sure will continue as there are too many views as to what is correct. Even though my personal favourite is who would win in a fight between Spiderman and Batman, the more pertinent one in my focus area is defining “who is an analyst?”

Normally I try not to get to emotional about it, but after reading Vinnie’s post where he quotes:

seems like AR folks want to cling to a narrow (and shrinking) definition of market influencers.

…I have to say that my cage well and truly got rattled.

Vinnie’s view is that analysts are becoming less influential in a world where multiple people can provide equivalent or better value. He states in a tweet:

"analysts" are just a small subset of a "1000 points of influence

Even though I agree with some of his points, I think that Vinnie has missed the big picture.

Like Vinnie, I see that many people influence decision making. I believe that we have moved from a top down version of decision making to that of a spherical one where public engagement is key. Decision makers have the luxury of being able easily seek advice from multiple parties when deciding what to do.

However, how much weight does the individual put on the different audiences he can engage with. The answer to that lies with trust.

Trust.

Edelman has ran surveys every year defining who decision makers trust. The highest ranked people, and one that has remained top for some time is not the CEO, peers or journalists but analysts.

Perhaps then, the highest definition of an analyst is someone who you can trust.

The characteristics of this trust were very clearly seen in the recent IIAR analyst of the year survey:

• they are independent
  the understand the industry
  their advice is based upon primary or secondary research
  they are trusted with NDA information so they can make their decisions based upon sound knowledge.

Are they involved in every step in the decision-making process? Of course not, but the steps they do take part in are critical. Perhaps the key point that Vinnie needs to realise is that just because not every analyst has the ability and authority to help in procurement like he does, it does not mean that no analysts can. Ovum famously help the government save millions of dollars in IT spending – isn’t that influential?

The analyst role is changing though. The saturation of information and commentary available has ensured that firms have had to adopt different business models to survive. Some succeed well providing syndicated research, others specialise in a patronage approach, some focus on messaging and consulting.

It is true that not everyone who is an analyst, analyzes but they still fulfil a key role.

Is Ray Wang an analyst now that he has left Forrester, according to him:

yes. but not in syndicated research. more like a cross between the Ent Irregulars and some indep analysts

Other thoughts that have come in through Twitter defining who is an analyst:

analyst = ones who draws conclusions based on hard numbers/ratios/real comparisons (via Mauricio Samayoa)

Anyone that has insight and/or has impact on purchasing decisions (via Mark Duke)

one element : analysts are influencers with some proof points behind their opinions (or at least they should be) (via Sandy Bergman)

Analysts study the complexity of markets, their communities translating them into market models, opinions and advice (via Martin Hingley)

Seems to me that the hard and fast pigeonholes don’t work across the universe anymore. And really, why should they? We’re at point in time where lots of businesses and services are shifting from "mass" to custom, personalized, specific one offs.

What’s important is that every organization has clear and informed answers to the questions: who informs your decision makers? and who influences your decision makers? (via Barbara French)

What does this show us?

It certainly appears that even amongst analysts and AR Pros, that we cannot agree. However, I’d like to define an analyst based upon all the comments as:

An independent expert who is trusted to give impartial advice based upon their privileged information

Whether they can fulfil all the different roles in the cycle (such as procurement, messaging advice, market analysis, sales training etc) depends upon the calibre of that analyst and the type of firm they work for. There will always be individuals to fill the vacuum where analysts do not have the skills and in that space there will be a grey area.

Nevertheless, as long as this community is trusted by the decision makers, there will always be a role for analyst relations and true engagement.

What do you think?

In a year where analysts have had to prove their worth to fight back against the reduction in discretionary spend, we would like to applaud those companies and individuals who have shown a commitment to providing a service that goes above and beyond what is expected.

This series of blog posts will showcase the results of the recent ‘Analyst of the Year Survey’. The results of this survey were collated over a three month period during which time 137 AR pros responded to a questionnaire available on surveymonkey.

In case you are wondering, the highest accolade of “Analyst of the Year” and “Analyst Firm of the Year” will be announced in the second post in this series.

Results (part 1)

Most Important Analyst House

Most Important Analysts

*NB. Not enough data was collected on “important consumer analysts” to make the results confident.

Opinion on Firm Importance

Note – this post refers to ‘importance’ NOT analyst of the year which will be covered in the next post.

When I compare the results from last year there seems to be a significant trend to the larger international houses. Gartner, Forrester and IDC seem to haul in the majority of opinions as to which firm is the most important.

Perhaps it is of little surprise that firms are cutting back and focusing on the analyst houses that have the greatest global reach. However, it is somewhat refreshing that other houses also are listed and have managed to carve out their own niches – notably: Verdantix and Quocirca in the green IT space and RedMonk and MWD in the developer/ IT Pro sector. It is in these smaller, areas where ‘boutique’ firms have managed to push their own USP and become sector leaders. Whether this was by choice or accident, I don’t mind but perhaps this is a new trend that we should monitor.

It is also worth giving a special mention to both AMR and Ovum who between them seemed to just miss out as they both made a high number of 4th places.

Opinion on Analyst Importance

There is a partial correlation between analyst house importance and analyst importance with a few significant exceptions. Most notably where people attach more importance on the individual rather than the company. This could be because of the bespoke value they give to firms and their unique intelligence and insight.

Notable analysts who fall into this category include David Mitchell from Ovum, Ray Wang from Forrester and James Governor from RedMonk.

David Mitchell, commenting on the results said:

Being recognized by your customers is always an honour, especially when the recognition comes from the IIAR and its members. Being recognized in enterprise, software, and services is especially gratifying.

European excellence

Even though the IIAR is based in  the UK, the fact that new chapters are opening up around the world is testament to the fact that this survey was truly global in its reach. At first analysis, I was immediately concerned over the relatively high number of awards that have gone to EMEA-based analysts and firms thinking that this was due to the physical location of the voters.

However, 72% of all respondents were based in the US or Canada.

As to why the Europeans tend to so well…

My personal view is that whereas a great deal of syndicated research tends to get created and published from the US, the European analysts have to rely on their revenue stream coming from their local market knowledge, deep messaging insights and customer focus. To put it bluntly, they need to prove value otherwise they will be out of a job. This point may well be the most contentious and I am happy to discuss this point further.

Given that there are NO US boutique analysts that appear in the "most important" list, perhaps the question that should be raised is “what gives European based analysts this reputation in the US but not vice versa?”

What factors make someone pick a firm or individual as important

Brand, sales coverage and processes (to ensure the quality, independence and exhaustiveness of the research) are universally important.  So is the impact that an analyst firm has on deals.

Individual traits include: bringing unique insights to the table, being easy to deal with, delivering value to end users and vendors with each interaction, and understand user needs whilst providing tangible real world benefits.

In the second of this series of blog posts, the coveted “Analyst of the Year” and “Analyst Firm of the Year” will be announced.

Methodology

1) Entrants:

This survey was open to anyone who works in analyst relations in any country, either in-house or at an agency/consultancy. In order for someone’s entry to be validated, they had to submit their email address and company name to verify they not an impostor trying to distort the results. This personal information will not be distributed or used beyond sending copies of the results to all participant. The survey was open for specific period of time and IP addresses were taken to ensure that someone could not vote twice.

2) Questions:

The survey specifically focused on an individual’s perception of the analyst world. A full list of every analyst house was made available for respondents to select their preference.

3) Segmentation:

Respondents were asked to specify their submissions based upon geography and segment. Based upon these criteria further analysis could be made of the results to identify specific regional or segment champions.

If you have any questions or comments about this survey please contact me (@jonnybentwood)

This post is also published on the Institute of Industry Analyst Relations (IIAR) blog and The Naked Pheasant.