Do the executives/managers out there actually get real value from analyst reports?

Short answer. No. Let me tell you why.

I have watched with a sort of detached amusement the minor earthquake in the blogosphere caused by that Radicati Group report on "IBM Lotus & Microsoft – Corporate Messaging Market Analysis".

It seems that most people who read me (and who in turn I generally read) are on the IT industry side of the fence. I, on the other hand, am an IT user. That is, my day job involves selecting and deploying technology in support of a business which is nothing to do with IT.

I do not know whether IT users are from Mars and suppliers from Venus, or the other way around but I will say this - there is a huge gulf of understanding between what IT users want and what IT suppliers think they want, or want to sell. And in the middle of this stands a group of outfits who try to bridge the gap by interpreting what technology companies are doing and providing insight and direction to potential users of that technology.

Question is - do they succeed?

Well, they certainly used to, but their influence has been waning over recent years for a number of reasons. I personally used to consider a Gartner subscription mandatory, but my last corporate Gartner sub lapsed in 1998 or 1999 and I have not really missed it.

The market for IT analysis has become very fragmented and far too many analysts seem these days to fall victim for the flavour of the month - something they used to avoid of old. So we never used to see papers with such an overtly technological bias as we do now. We used to see papers on business issues and how closely IT solutions came to addressing them.

Today's report (which I politely decline - again) is on NAS or SAN or IT security or some technology for which I either have no need or have already deployed a solution. It is not on corporate governance, business continuity or risk. It is written in a language which may be well recognisable by the IT industry, in which it may well stir up a very strong reaction, but which leaves me stone cold. 99% of the time my reaction is simply, so what?

I have no idea whether I am typical. Perhaps other IT executives do read analysts' reports and feel they are getting value. I somewhat doubt it though.

Some IT suppliers start to get very worried at this point. Surely I must have some means by which I keep my finger on the pulse of technological developments? If not analyst reports, then what can it be? Am I missing something?

Relax. Of course I am missing plenty. I don't care. You see, with IT as with so many other things in life, it's not what you've got but rather how you use it that is really important.

Here, amongst the rich (nay, eclectic) mix of technologies we have deployed there are perhaps two which I regard as strategically advantageous. One of those is Notes/Domino - not because of what it is, but because of how we use it. Of course the fact is that it simply isn't possible to use any other technology the way we use Notes/Domino (it has no near equivalent) so you may see this as a circular argument though I do not.

You're still nervous - how can a wilfully deaf IT executive be persuaded to hear your message? Well, metaphorically, we are looking at the wrong sense here. I do not use my ears to assess technology, I use my nose.

At a course a year or two back, the course tutors used Myers Briggs personality type analysis on a group of IT executives, including me. I came out as INTP (preferences for introversion, intuition, thinking and perception). It transpires that in the population as a whole this is rare, but in IT executives it is the largest single grouping. Those last three characteristics are the important ones - IT execs are intuitive thinkers who prefer to perceive the world rather than judge it. We use our metaphorical noses, not our ears to stay close to technology because good technology has a distinct aroma.

OK. I'm losing you now (probably lost you ages ago), so I wall draw a halt here with one closing remark.

As IT suppliers, stop worrying about what people say about you. If you have good technology we will find it regardless of anything anyone may say.

Category: About me
Technorati: About me

1. Rock06/08/2004 13:04:08
Homepage: http://www.LotusGeek.com

First off, thanks for the trackback.

Second, WOW - that was one of the best blog entries I have read in awhile. What great insight, and it rings so true. Thanks for sharing - I hope others do the same, because I am really curious about this topic, and I think the response could be very telling to the analysts out there (should they choose to read it ).

Rock

2. Eric Parsons06/08/2004 16:12:49
Homepage: http://www.startingblockcomputing.com

Great post, Chris! I used to purchase hardware for a medium siZed company in Kansas. Bottom line was that a lot of cows live in Kansas, and the quantity of excrement was not limited to the fields.

I'm not sure whether it's Gartner or Meta that does the football analysis, but have you heard of it? Do you put any credence in it's fortune telling capacity?

BTW. the Cap - Z in the first paragraph was a kludge when my computer started scrolling up and down alternatively when attempting the lowercase. May be a strange anomily with Feedreader Build 610. Just FYI.

3. 12/08/2004 17:44:49

Lotus Notes Developer Opportunity
Greetings,

Are you currently available for long term (possibly perm) contract work? We
have a Client in Auburn Hills, Michigan that is seeking a Lotus Notes
Developer to join their existing Notes team. You would be responsible for
the development and maintenance of heavily scripted Web and client-server
applications using Lotus Notes and Domino (R5 and R6) in a Windows and
UNIX/Linux environment. The contract will last for at least 6 months and if
all parties agree could eventually convert into permanent employment.
The contract start date is due to start immediately upon finding the right
match.

If this basic description sounds interesting (obviously there is much more to the
project) and you are available please reply with your most recent resume as
a Word document. If not feel free to forward my contact information to
anyone you see fit.

Please let me know either way. I can be reached at any time to discuss the
details.

Thanks,

Mattea Cirrincione
Technical Recruiter
Sierra ITS
847-692-0616 dir
www.SierraITS.com

4. Chris LeRoy12/08/2004 21:53:23
Homepage: http://www.brainbent.com

Hmmm, I got this same comment in my email this morning...

5. Chris Linfoot13/08/2004 08:35:36

I was going to delete this comment but then you go and comment on it!

So I will let it stand with a couple of observations.

The person who wrote it has spent precisely no time here whatsoever. Had he/she done so, he/she would know that

a) I am in the UK - who pays for international relocation for an IT admin job?

b) I have a job which is nothing to do with Notes/Domino admin - I just write this site as a way of giving back to the anti-spam community - that is all.

I wonder if blog comments are going to be the next big thing in recruitment

TrackBack From www.redmonk.com27/09/2004 11:41:41

On Questions of Analyst Value

he Lotus community continues to ask some searching questions about IT industry analysts and the value we provide. One posting comes from Chris Linfoot. Meanwhile Lotus.Geek talks of "Opinion Whores" I read Linfoot's note and he makes some good points. As an industry analyst myself i am not surprised that many IT organizations are skeptical about the value of the work we do. There is a lot of poor work out there. The IT analyst sector is small and immature--but got delusions of grandeur during the late 90s. We need to do a better job of helping to map technology to business.

TrackBack From Thinking out Loud19/03/2005 15:03:06

Analyst coverage of open source

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