Jason Corsello has recently switched from being an industry analyst to consultant in the human capital management space, a topic in which all finance people should be interested IMO. As such Jason has a unique perspective on changes occurring in both industries. In a recent response to Vinnie’s Revisiting Gartner’s Influence post where Vinnie asserts:
But I read my former Gartner colleague Jonathan Yarmis rave about its growing “influence” – and I pause. Most CIOs I talk to have not increased spend with Gartner the last few years. Most think its research is passe.
Jason explains that:
Gartner’s Magic Quadrant has become much more important to the vendors than it has for enterprises and the Forrester Wave provides little to no direction for enterprises in their decision-making process…The problem is that the heavy hand (and wallet) of the vendors, the lack of transparency, the unwillingness to innovate in structure, content, and delivery, and lack of community inclusion will continue to diminish the value of the products and services that those firms offer today.
It’s not so long ago that I asked a client why they spend so much with Gartner. At the time we were talking $100K minimum per annum but realistically north of $250K when everything is included. That’s a lot of money by anyone’s standards. Many vendors spend a LOT more. But why? The reply I usually get is:
Those Magic Quadrants are still important to our C-level buyers.
I can imagine a lot of vendor reps nodding to that one. But think for a moment. Isn’t this a disguised form of kidology where the analyst let’s the vendor believe they have them over some sort of barrel? Other clients say that forking over to industry analysts is an ingrained part of marketing. A tick in the box.
I’m fascinated by this because in the SMB/E market, the analysts have little or no interest or influence yet all major vendors agree this is the one area that is open to serious growth.
Last week, a well known analyst asked me whether I get to speak with Sage. Yes I do and as often as I wish. Do they speak to me. Sure. His firm can’t get near them. Why? Because there’s always a salesperson in tow handing out a menu card of services with a minimum starting price. I don’t. Vendors know if they want to consult with me then that’s chargeable but that I’m prepared to put a lot of information out in the public domain That’s I’m an end user advocate who believes that end users should have ready access to as much information as is possible at the least cost. They’re also a very reliable source of product experience. And that has a quantifiable value to me. The last word goes to Jason:
In the Knowledge Infusion Center of Excellence, my mission is to flip this model upside down. That means opening up the ecosystem of the HCM community, providing full and open disclosure of content, information, and methodology, leveraging new media tools and technologies, and provide a forward-looking view of where the market needs to be focused and how decisions and strategies can impact business outcomes.
Technorati Tags: HCM – Knowledge infusion – Gartner – magic quadrant
