I appreciated your article about the sources of analyst revenue. However, from my own observations and input from many vendors, I have the impression that for firms based in
- If the vendor buyer is a market intelligence manager, they often want highly structured data rather than insight. That rewards firms with niche expertise. As we all know know, with five or ten analysts in a single niche an analyst firm can go deeper than Gartner or Forrester in most segments.
- On the other hand, if the buyer is a marketing manager then often they want love. They don't want difficult conversations; they want mirrors. So, again, there is not much interest there in real end-user rapport.
Part 1 would fall in the category that I labeled “consultant”. the second category would explain how some seemingly clueless firms manage to survive. (The emperors do like to be complimented about their new clothers.) I agree with you about the end user side. I would also add that, like vendors, end user requirements for level of expertise can vary significantly. based upom my experience at EMA™ I can have observed that there are engagements that require real in-depth subject matter knowledge. There are also subscribers who do nothing but read the published reports – this is high-class journalism. Other subscribers will make use of the inquiry function and that is another time when a moderate to high degree of subject matter knowledge is required.