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AnalystPerspectives

Commentary on the IT and Telecommunications Analyst Firm Markets From the desk of Jim Zimmermann (Sponsored by Books24x7)

A Look At InformationSpanDecember 1 2008

Bridging the gap between enterprise IT and the analyst community

This is our first profile of a firm that consults with user teams on how to maximize the value derived from the analyst community. Unlike traditional “analyst relations” firms that specialize in working with IT vendors, InformationSpan is a consulting firm with an unique mission: to work in the interface between enterprise IT and the analyst industry. Dr. Tony Law, the founder of InformationSpan, believes there is a great deal of room to improve the way analysts and clients work together - to everyone's benefit.

Based in Lewes, England ("head for Brighton and turn left"), Tony Law is primarily a researcher. His doctorate, from Oxford University, is in mineralogy. Several career steps took him into enterprise IT. Until leaving at the end of 2007 to begin his new venture, he was Director, Technology Research within the IT Architecture and Strategy team at GlaxoSmithKline. The role combined delivery of IT's emerging technology awareness with oversight of its analyst and research services portfolio; so he was both a major user and the service manager. He built the service into a coherent portf

Using analysts to cover your *!#October 8 2008

The Analystanalyst’s blog has an interesting thread going on how some decision makers use analysts to “cover their *!#s”. The blog cites a case where a potential customer would not make a purchase decision without having Gartner’s blessing, despite the fact that the potential customer’s technical people had done an extensive in-house evaluation of potential products.

Unfortunately, this seems to be the case in many companies. I experienced this first hand many years ago when I was a Program Director at IBM Global Services. I had the opportunity to work on several new business presentations to Lou Gerstner, the CEO of IBM at the time. When working on the presentation, we were told in no uncertain terms that we should not even bother bringing a proposal to Gerstner without including a slide with Gartner’s view on the opportunity. It was amazing that at a company with over 100,000 talented employees, many of them working full-time at evaluating markets and opportunities, that a decision couldn’t be made without Gartner’s blessing!

There are correct, valuable ways to use analysts, and then there are dumb ways to use analysts. I think that analysts serve a valuable service to the markets, but using them to cover your *!

Forrester Acquires JupiterResearchAugust 26 2008

In case you missed it, last week Forrester announced it was acquiring Jupiter Research. To read the press release from Forrester, use this link:

http://www.forrester.com/ER/Press/Release/0,1769,1220,00.html

Forrester is buying the firm for $23 million in cash plus assumed liabilities, subject to post-closing adjustments, in a strategic purchase that complements Forrester's syndicated business model. JupiterResearch has 82 employees and 2007 revenues of approximately $14 million. Forrester, with 2007 revenues of $212 million, now has more than 1,000 employees. JupiterResearch joins Forrester's Marketing & Strategy Client Group, which contributed $46.4 million to Forrester's total revenue in 2007.

George Colony, Forrester’s CEO, posted an open letter on the Forrester web site announcing the deal. Here’s what George had to say: “I wanted to give you a heads up on Forrester's acquisition of JupiterResearch that we announced this morning. JupiterResearch, based in New York City with offices in San Francisco, London, and Paris, has long been helping companies understand and profit from the impact of the Internet. It has a rich heritage and a full set of research offerings that will bring value to the Marketing & Strategy roles that Forrester serves. We are very happy to be welcoming JupiterResearch into the Forrester family — and we feel confident that this

Informa Receives Buyout Offer From US-Based Private Equity ConsortiumJuly 2 2008

According to an article in the Daily Telegraph, Informa, the owner of Datamonitor and a host of other business-to-business media businesses, has received a buyout offer from from a consortium of US-based private equity firms. The offer values the firm at £3.4bn, including debts. This is the latest in a series of acquisition and refinancing talks for Informa which is saddled with £1.25bn in debt. Talks with United Business Media ended last month and an approach by Candover and Cinven was terminated two years ago.

To read the entire article, use this link.

Gartner Expands Presence in Northern AsiaJuly 2 2008

Derek Seow, Gartner’s newly-appointed Regional Vice President for North Asia, was quoted in an article in MIS Asia magazine regarding Gartner’s growth in Asia Pacific:

“Asia Pacific was the fastest growing region within Gartner in 2007 and we are continuing the momentum in 2008. We have added research analyst and sales resources in the Greater China region over the past few years to support our growing client base, especially in financial services, government and high tech companies.

The economic boom in Hong Kong and massive construction in Macau is forcing enterprises to use technology to manage down costs, improve efficiency and deploy resources for business expansion.”

According to the article:

“Seow is one of two recent Gartner appointments to its Asia Pacific management team, as the company expands its research and events business in Hong Kong. He is responsible for leading Gartner’s teams in China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan. Alex Dawson has been promoted to Area Manager of Gartner’s Hong Kong operation. He has been working at Gartner for six years, and was involved in various sales, management and business development roles in Sydney and Brisbane. In 2007, Dawson led his team in Australia to become one of the most successful sales teams in Gartner worldwide. Prior to joining Gartner, Dawson worked in the IT recruitment