Who wants to pay for Analyst Report?
There was a time- some years back-when we used to have too little sources of such information. Those days these analyst firms were the only place you could go to get reliable answers. Now we have too many information sources and these reports is just one of them- that too which are voluminous ones containing 90% stuff which we don't need at the given point in time. Why should I pay for all of that in these times of blogging and micro-blogging? Can't they change their business model to customized solutions for specific context? Instead on bringing out huge, bulky reports in a templatized manner?
Who is the customer for these reports? Let's specifically focus on IT world. As I had mentioned in one of my previous blogs, the real decision makers are now the business or end-users. IT department's role is that of enabler. Do they really care for or for that matter; even understand the numbers these reports are churning out? Can they relate to heavy terms like "value constellation", "value stream analysis" etc.? I am also seeing problem with analyst report being "sponsored" by product vendors- what happens to the neutrality? Isn't it that consultants like me selectively quote from analyst reports if it suits us.
Recently I came across this interesting blog by Phil Fersht. Will the industry analyst business be dead in five years? Pretty much echoing my thoughts on this. To quote him in verbatim...".Buyers don't read research these days. Fact. I can tell you from years of experience that buyers will only read a research report if their job depended on it and it's forced down their throats. However, buyers love learning things that help them do their job better - they like listening to real experts and learning from each other. Analysts need to spend as much time as they can talking with buyers and becoming a focal point for idea-sharing, knowledge, data and validation of their strategies. While some analyst firms know this, many of their analysts rarely have more than two or three buyers in their Rolodex..."
To sum it up- its high time analyst take note of the current market realities and customer preferences and repackage their offerings. They need to focus more on delivering value-added, customized solutions to the customers which would help them do their job better. That's the only way they can justify their big price tag.
