Category: Social media

Doing unto analysts what they do unto vendors

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icon-social-media-blue.jpgIn an example of how social media can turn the tables in the analyst ecosystem, Sam Lawrence (bio, Jive blog, Twitter), the esteemed Chief Marketing Officer for Jive Software (enterprise collaboration software), in his personal blog Go Big Always gives Forrester a B and Gartner a C- in Gartner and Forrester’s Report Card (so far). Sam evaluated the firms’ coverage of his market, client service and amount of attention paid by analysts. Well worth the read.

What makes Sam’s post so interesting is that he is in essence commenting about the analysts in a manner similar to what analysts do with vendors, especially in those brief news flashes analysts put out. It is important to note that […]

AR managers do not like surprises, which mean they are a little annoyed at blogging analysts

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icon-social-media-blue.jpgObviously SageCircle is a big proponent of social media and the potential for positive impact on the analyst ecosystem. However, that view is not shared by all AR professionals. I recently had an interesting conversation with an AR manager who was more than a little irritated with major firm analysts who blog. Are these normal growing pains in the evolution of the AR-analyst relationship or is this a nascent backlash?

A big part of this person’s annoyance was centered on the lack of discipline and rigor in the analysts’ […]

Because analysts are increasingly using blogs as development platforms, AR has to participate to be part of the conversation

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icon-social-media-blue.jpgOver the weekend in a Twitter exchange, AMR Research’s Phil Fersht (Twitter, blog) told me he “uses blogging to cultivate ideas for research.” In addition, Phil said that he uses “it as a networking tool to attract and influence users.”

For AR managers who have Phil on their analyst lists – and any outsourcing vendor should – you should be following’s Phil’s blog.  If you are not, this information should send a shiver down your spine […]

Blogs as part of the AR tool box — Is there a chicken-or-egg issue?

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icon-social-media-blue.jpgWhile blogs have been around for a number of years, they are seldom used by communications and IT vendor analyst relations (AR) teams*. I have found only Adobe, Cisco, HP, IBM** and Sun. This is too bad because blogs can be a valuable tool for communicating certain types of information in a less formal manner.

Now it is important to realize that a blog is not the end all and be all of analyst interactions. For one thing, blogs are usually not password protected, so nothing remotely confidential can be the topic of a blog entry.

There are a number of reasons why AR has avoided blogs:

  1. The AR team cannot get permission to launch a blog because their company has not developed a blogging strategy and policy yet
  2. AR is simply overworked and cannot add another task
  3. AR perceives that it does not has the right skills to create blog content
  4. AR believes there is no demand for a blog because the analysts are not asking for one
  5. AR thinks there are not enough interesting topics for them to consistently blog

Items #1 and #2 are show stoppers. Items #3 and #4 are what I call chicken-and-egg issues. For instance, […]

Adding Twitter or other micro blogging tools to the AR tool box

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icon-social-media-blue.jpgAnalyst relations (AR) has a number of tools available for interacting with the IT industry analysts ranging from prehistoric-based face-to-face meetings to the 19th century telephone to the 21st century TelePresence by Cisco. Social media (e.g., blogs, communities, wikis and so on) represents just the latest technology to come along to enhance the AR interaction tool box. While social media should be considered an opportunity, many AR teams see it as a challenge because they perceive that that cannot add one more item to their to-do list (see Why social media scares the analyst firms and vendor AR teams). However, if approached correctly, social media does not have to be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back.

One of the new social media tools that could be very useful is the micro-blog (e.g., Twitter, Jaiku and Pownce). Micro-blogs are easy to learn, simple to experiment with and, best of all, free. Micro-blogs could be a constructive one-to-many communications tool, especially for fast-breaking […]

Introducing SageCircle’s Fog of Influence

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icon-social-media-blue.jpg(Editor’s Note: A draft of the Fog of Influence graphic has been replaced with the final version. 2/4/08 12:50 pm PT)

It used to be so simple to identify the influencers of technology deals in those idyllic days of yore. IT managers would talk to the IT advisory analysts, read the IT trade press, listen to the IT vendors and play golf with their buddies in IT in other companies. It was reasonably predictable as to who was influencing each step of the product purchase project and to what extent.Today, of course, the model of influence is anything but simple and predictable. Social media has exploded onto the scene adding many new voices to the discussion. On-line publishing has expanded the number of “IT trade press” outlets to dizzying new level. The analyst industry continues to consolidate and simultaneously expand with analyst firms with new business and research models starting up every week even as others are being acquired. It is easier for IT managers to interact with peers beyond hitting the golf course. IT vendors are embracing new forms of communication with mixed levels of success. It is enough to make your head spin.

sagecircle-fog-of-influence-2-feb-08.jpgOver the last ten years there have several approaches to representing the ways that buyers and influencers interact (see The IT industry analysts’ role: evolution of perception). This post introduces the latest SageCircle update, the Fog of Influence (left, click to enlarge). The Fog of Influence incorporates social media, Web 1.0 and […]

Speed versus silence on the Microsoft-Yahoo announcement and the implications for Analyst Relations and the Press

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icon-social-media-blue.jpgIt has been interesting seeing the different responses to the Microsoft-Yahoo announcement. For example, as of 10:15 US Pacific Time:

  • Redmonk’s James Governor on his Monkchips has an interesting post, plus James has been Twittering
  • Forrester has commentary from three analysts (Rob, Charlene and Shar) on three blogs, each with a unique point-of-view
  • Rob Enderle has weighed in on the Technology Pundits blog
  • AMR, Gartner and IDC, nothing so far on their websites or blogs

No doubt, IDC and Gartner analysts have been talking to the press and clients, but frankly so […]

Jeremiah Owyang interviews SageCircle’s Carter Lusher

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Forrester analyst and Web Strategy blogger extraordinaire Jeremiah Owyang interviewed your humble correspondent at Buck’s of Woodside on the topic of the industry analysts and social media. Here is the video, but you should also visit the post for the commentary and comments.

 Video: Why Social Media scares the Analyst Industry (3 min with Carter Lusher)

Jeremiah is one of the few major firm analysts that cover social media that actually walks the walk by being […]