Springboard buys Hydrasight to exploit Gartner’s relative weakness in emerging markets

Springboard Research, the Singapore-headquartered firm which has continued to grow through the last year, has bought Hydrasight, an upmarket analyst and consulting organisation based in Australia. Springboard’s allowed AnalystEquity to break its embargo and speak about it in advance of the formal announcement tomorrow (online here).

The two firms fit will together, with little redundancy between the two operations. Springbroad is the sort of firm you’d turn to if you needed a 28-country study collecting in-depth data from emerging markets, while Hydrasight’s the kind of organisation that advises CIOs and end-users. Needless to say, Sydney and Singapore are far apart. However, the deal allows Hydrasight to access a dedicated sales force and a wider set of clients to sell to. Access to Springboard’s data could also allow it to develop a richer set of research products and consulting services.

Both firms are rooted in the APac market in which (outside Japan) Gartner has struggled to implant itself. They understand how to get people to trial and experience their work, and how to build the real relationships needed there,  which reflect the huge market for custom consulting across the region.

We’ll be writing more about the impact of the acquisition. In the meanwhile, read why local analysts dominate Asia-Pacific.

Duncan Chapple

Duncan Chapple is the preeminent consultant on optimising international analyst relations and the value created by analyst firms. As SageCircle research director, Chapple directs programs that assess and increase the business value of relationships with industry analysts and sourcing advisors.

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  1. March 17, 2010, 6:34 pm

    […] acquisition of Hydrasight (discussed recently) and the expansion of Experton Group into the UK reflect a shifting value curve in the analyst […]