Comments on: Over reliance on industry analysts

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 20:41:10 +0000

I wouldnt characterize my analysis being based on hunches and assumptions, if that is what you meant In the last 10 years I have worked for several companies that were Gartner / Forrester / Yankee clients both on the vendor side and enterprise. As CTO of NitroSecurity I worked pretty closely with these firms. Briefing these analysts on the technology vision we created at Nitro was crucial to us securing 3 rounds of VC funding. VC's also use industry analysts when scoping potential deals.

Thanks again for the feedback Nathan.

–Chris

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By: Nathan Kully

Nathan Kully — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 18:23:06 +0000

I completely understand your stance on analyses because in order to form your own opinions and stances on situations you need to make your own analyses. Sometimes this means not even looking directly at the raw data and basing decisions off of hunches and assumptions.

I deffinently appreciate your opinion in this blog, you seem to go places that many bloggers avoid because they fear negative responses. While I do not fully agree with your stance on analyses, you make a very valid point that I will take into consideration next time I write an expository.

Nathan

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By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 16:08:08 +0000

Thanks for the note Nathan. I tried not to come across as anti-Analyst because I am not. There are some very talented people that work for or have worked for analyst firms including Richard Stiennon, Greg Young, Andrew Jacquith, Mike Rothman. I think that the service they offer is a meaningful one as many companies do not have the time to put into that level of product research. The point I was trying to get across is I feel it is a mistake to solely rely on their analyses when making a buying decision.

As far as the rest….I intend to express my opinion with this blog. People are free to agree or disagree. I prefer some do disagree as it makes it more interesting and I may learn something in the process.

–Chris

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By: Nathan Kully

Nathan Kully — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 14:27:56 +0000

Wow, this is quite the stance Chris. As an avid writer for my company it is very surprising to hear someone go against blatent facts and analysis that Forrester, Jupiter etc. have to offer. Interesting points you bring up about fitting the solution as opposed to seeing what has been done thus far because so many people base their opinions on basic facts and trends that have been established over the years.

These days it seems like if you dont look at concrete facts you don't have anything to truly support an arguement. People are so scared to pursue a weak arguement that they'd rather not write anything than write an arguement that receives tons of criticism. Thanks Chris, hope you opened some eyes with your opinions here.

Nathan

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