Datamonitor, Ovum & Butler cohabitation makes AR easier

Last week’s meeting of the IIAR invited a delegation from Datamonitor, including John Leigh, who heads the tech research at Datamonitor and its Ovum and Butler brands, and David Mitchell (who has a similar role as the new Research Fellow). John couldn’t make it, but Datamonitor CEO Mark Meek and David Mitchell gave a spirited defence of some upcoming changes which are still under NDA (but, for example, we notice that Tony now works for something called OvumButler: “OvumButler, a UK based company, provide Enterprise IT Services to cater for the specialised needs of all levels of executive, from IT professionals to senior managers and board directors.”)

We’ll wait to see how the NDA-ed elements are launched, but what we can say now is that AR professionals will have an easier life as a result of the changes. Previously, the Ovum, Butler and Datamonitor teams were separate. That meant that each vendors normally had to brief all three firms individually. Not all three got the same treatment, and meant that those firms could come to different conclusions as a result.

The new arrangement is made a lot easier by the move of Datamonitor’s technology analysts intothe top floors of the same building: the old headquarters of the Guardian newspaper which is just along Farringdon Road from Ovum’s previous headquarters.

In the new building, analysts in the same coverage area will be able to sit and work together, and to co-operate on research with each other and with vertical market specialist from the other Datamonitor groups.

The impact of these changes on enterprise clients remains to be seen. But for AR managers, it makes these three brands much easier to work with.

Duncan Chapple

Duncan Chapple is the preeminent consultant on optimising international analyst relations and the value created by analyst firms. As the head of CCgroup's analyst relations team, Chapple directs programs that increase the value of relationships with industry analysts and sourcing advisors.

There are 2 comments on this post
  1. July 14, 2009, 4:58 pm

    I heard Elvis – or in this case John Leigh – had left the building?

  2. July 17, 2009, 10:14 pm

    […] posted on his blog the following entry: Datamonitor, Ovum & Butler cohabitation makes AR easier (Analyst Equity). It’s a good summary of the last IIAR London Forum, kindly hosted by David Rossiter from […]