Category: 1. Identify – AR research

Identify is the research stage of the IDEAL process model. It’s the stage where we situate the different analyst firms in our market, understand what our goals are, make an inventory of our past interactions with analysts and prioritize the analysts.

For IT managers – It’s “Praise Your Vendor” Inquiry Day

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icon-phone-headset.jpgNow for something completely different… offering the analysts a vendor compliment in lieu of a complaint. Advisory analysts at major firms build their opinions based more on client feedback than on research evaluations. They generally do not do lab analysis or specific competitive research.  That means that the perceptions they have of the products may be more highly colored by negative customer comments heard during client phone-based inquiries than reality would suggest. 

SageCircle Technique:  My suggestion to IT managers is that you […]

Beyond BRIC — David Mitchell’s “geosophical technologies” takes a global view of the IT industry

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If you are interested in a global perspective on the IT industry I recommend that you check out David Mitchell’s geosophical technologies blog. David is a VP at Ovum, but geosophical technologies is his personal blog. One of the best aspects of this blog is that David just does not focus on the so-called BRIC countries (Brazil,[…]

Using inquiry… Influence the analysts’ research agenda

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icon-phone-headset.jpgWe have repeated stressed the importance of inquiry, both from the role of the vendor and that of the research consumer.  Obviously it can be used to obtain information as well as inform the analyst.  Another aspect of inquiry is the use of it to influence the research agenda of an analyst or a firm on behalf of either IT clients or vendors.

From the IT client perspective it can be very valuable to align the research agenda in the direction of your specific research needs.  Analysts rate client inquiry highly in understanding the market direction.  Your questions and observations, coupled with those of other clients, often cause shifts in the planned […]

Show your favorite analyst some love vote in the IIAR analyst of the year survey

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There is still time left to vote in the International Institute of AR’s “Analyst of the Year” survey. Go to Analyst of the year – submit your answers today to find the survey link. SageCircleSince 2000, SageCircle has helped analyst relations teams to focus on business value by encouraging innovative thinking that leverages insights and drives revenue. sagecircle.com

On the Reading List – Groundswell by Forrester’s Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff

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I have been reading a reviewer copy of “Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies” by Forrester analysts Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. Rather than waiting until I finished the book and write a review, this post is a suggestion that if you or your company are interested in using social media either[…]

Common mistakes made when using market share numbers from industry analysts

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Market share numbers from the market research analysts can provide interesting insights into the direction a market is going. However, relying on the numbers alone without understanding how they are created or the assumptions that went into their research can lead to the wrong conclusions

There are a variety of common mistakes that market research consumers make. Consumers of market share numbers need to be aware of these types of mistakes and […]

Potential analyst inquiry topics for IT and communications vendors

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icon-phone-headset.jpgSageCircle constantly recommends that communications and IT vendors take advantage of their inquiry privileges with analysts and actively work this activity into their interactions plan.  In last Saturday’s post (click here) we encouraged startups to use inquiry and suggested some techniques that are valid for all vendors.

Inquiries are a great way to stay “top of mind” with your key analysts between major events or announcements.  In addition, you can use inquiry to enhance the analyst relationship as long as you avoid idle chit-chat and ask questions of substance. 

Some potential topics that might be appropriate for a vendor inquiry with an analyst might include  […]