Yesterday at Gartner Supply Chain Symposium I sat in on a session titled Magic Quadrant Insights for SCP Solutions 2026. Most of the hour walked through the two Supply Chain Planning Magic Quadrants that Pia Orup Lund‘s team produces. The closing minutes were different. She stepped back from the specific market and offered broader observations…
There is a productive confusion at the heart of how most B2B technology firms organise their intelligence-gathering. Analyst relations sits in one corner — often in marketing or communications — busily managing briefing schedules and preparing for Magic Quadrant submissions. Market and competitive intelligence sits in another, triangulating win/loss data and commissioning research reports. The…
In April 2021, Gartner permanently cancelled the requirement for vendor-supplied customer references in its Magic Quadrant and Critical Capabilities research. That decision started a series of changes that fundamentally altered the competitive dynamics of analyst relations. The old model was a “push” system: vendors submitted curated lists of satisfied customers, and analysts interviewed them. The…
Look, we’ve all been there. There’s a report sitting behind a paywall or locked in a subscription you don’t have, and you need to understand what’s in it. Maybe it’s a Gartner study your competitor keeps citing, or an IDC forecast that keeps coming up in sales conversations. Shadow research is basically reverse engineering that…
As I celebrate another birthday, I’m struck by how this past year has crystallised around a central theme: the power of structured, customer-focused storytelling in creating genuine business value. Whether working with industry analysts, supporting academic innovation, or helping technology providers navigate complex markets, everything connects through stories that matter to the people who need…
At CxO2025 in Munich, I facilitated a candid workshop about the realities of analyst relations, particularly for organizations without enterprise-level budgets. The conversation revealed both challenges and opportunities that resonated strongly with attendees. Our discussion touched on four key areas, with the majority of participants struggling with lining up internal ideas of advisory and analyst…