tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-294880355377903512.post8268876348886738132..comments2009-03-24T11:52:53.037-07:00Christopher Keenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452233158192995749noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-294880355377903512.post-43341402316173952352009-03-24T11:52:00.000-07:002009-03-24T11:52:00.000-07:00I sense a lot of unresolved issues around analysts out there in the blogosphere. My recommendation is to take a deep breath, let it out, and as you let it out try to release also your preconceptions around what analysts coulda, shoulda, woulda done for you in the past. There are many important professions for which there is a great deal of conflicting emotions - repo men come to mind. <BR/><BR/>You can believe whatever you want to believe about the analyst community. I will still contend that effective use of analysts is an important step to building buzz for an enterprise software product, regardless of what you think of their business model.Christopher Keenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452233158192995749noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-294880355377903512.post-76850255438216830972009-03-19T16:25:00.000-07:002009-03-19T16:25:00.000-07:00Analysts are not for sale? Oh please!<BR/>I've heard inside reports from multiple vendor organisations of the consequences of NOT taking a five-figure annual subscription to the services of various major analysts.<BR/>And the boot-licking papers they churn out for the vendors speak for themselves.<BR/>Analysts are marketing outsourcers. They just pretend otherwise.The IT Skeptichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02065984082713072110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-294880355377903512.post-68052591432268647602009-03-17T08:55:00.000-07:002009-03-17T08:55:00.000-07:00Hey, this is IT, not Guys and Dolls. Such vitriol is a bit out of place on a G-rated blog. <BR/><BR/>In my experience, most of the misguided anger at analysts comes precisely because their opinions are not for sale. Analysts are also not visionaries - their job is to help CIOs keep their jobs, not encourage CIOs to jump headfirst into every latest tech fad that us Silicon Valley dreamers cook up.<BR/><BR/>Notice that I put the analyst step last. In particular, notice that I put it *after* we had achieved a number of major customer validations. <BR/><BR/>I think talking to analysts before you have any customer traction is a waste of time, but I also believe that trying to publicize customer traction without analyst validation is equally impossible.Christopher Keenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452233158192995749noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-294880355377903512.post-28139445090721196202009-03-16T15:41:00.000-07:002009-03-16T15:41:00.000-07:00The analysts you mention are whores, and their agencies are pimps. They are paid by the vendors to write what is wanted, not to give fair evaluations of the products and sector. I can't recall the last time such analysts called a tune proper.bizQuirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17833682277332554221noreply@blogger.com