Over the last few weeks we’ve been hearing what people think about Outsell’s new paper on the analyst relations area.

In 24 tightly-argued pages, the paper explains the rationale for analyst relations, describes the AR community in depth, the evolution of AR since the 1970s, the networks of AR services firms (including Lighthouse) and makes some savvy observations about best practice, both for AR managers and for analyst firms wanting to get the most out of AR.

It’s perhaps the last aspect of that which is most original. Many mid-sized analyst firms view AR as an irritation. Outsell‘s paper gives research firms some excellent guidance on what they can do to use AR as part of their marketing and communications mix.

Outsell’s paper also stresses how analyst relations often has the lowest chair at the table when solution providers’ marketing leaders gather. AR is often hampered by PR metrics, and AR struggles to show its RoI. We’ll have more to say on that topic next week.

Outsell also discusses the IIAR, which it had earlier assessed in OutsellNow (“Institute for Industry Analyst Relations Launches In Britain, Germany”). The paper’s available here.