The Analyst Value Survey (AVS) is the only public survey into how thousands of professionals value different analyst firms like Gartner, Forrester and around 100 of their most successful competitors. The survey has been held since 2001 and the results are being read by an ever increasing audience; The results of the 2013 survey were viewed over 10,000 times in the first half year, and the 2014 results were shared over 500,000 times. The survey also provides the data for our annual Analyst Firm Awards.
The Analyst Value Survey shows which industry analysts firms are most valued, and by whom. Every year since 2001, we’ve asked thousands of professionals about the analyst services they use. The results help you to understand which analysts firms have the most impact, and which will give you the most value.
The AVS offers three big benefits to clients: our detailed report, typically over 180 pages, a recorded webinar to give you the overview and a face-to-face video workshop where we help you use the AVS to develop your strategy.
The AVS is a unique evaluation of the IT Research marketplace based on two high-level criteria, use and value.
- Usage. We ask professionals which analysts firms they use. Analyst research has changed a lot over the last 20 years, when analysts insight was consumed by reading expensive reports. Now analysts have a wide range of services, and have have a substantial impact on companies that don’t have formal subscription agreements. The AVS prompts users to comment on the 100 largest analyst firms, and also allows people to write in the names of other firms they work with.
- Value. It’s easy to compare the revenue of analyst firms, but the ability of those firms to capture value is not the same as their ability to generate value for users. Thousands of people tell us which services they use, from which analysts firms, and which services they value the most.
Most charts in the detailed report show average scores or percentages, rather than weighted scores. When we aggregate the data, the only weights come directly from the use and value scores given by respondents to the survey.
The survey helps users of analysts’ services keep in mind that high-value analysts might not be the only option for you. Smaller firms without a full portfolio of slick services can be cheaper, and sometimes just as close to growing market sectors. A small analyst firm might have a lot to offer and, indeed, many upstart firms are now delivering more value than the major analyst stalwarts.
Leveraging the results
- Technology Buyers: Buyers of analyst services use the results of the AVS to see which firms are perceived as delivering the highest impact on their IT decision making.
- Technology Providers: Analyst Relations and marketing professionals at technology providers use the AVS to improve and justify their prioritisation of relationships with analysts who impact their business.
- Research Firms: Analyst Firms use the AVS to understand how they can deliver more value and overtake their competition.
The AVS is the compass we use to help ourselves and our clients to navigate through the complex global market. That is why we aim to maximise the participation in the survey, in order to better assure its objectivity and resilience. That is a challenging goal. because no commercially-available database exists of analysts’ users, it is not possible to conduct a traditional market research project using a statistically- balanced sample of the whole community. Instead we use Panalyst, our in-house database of analysts’ users, while social media, ICT solution providers and analyst firms spread the news of the survey further. The result is the only longitudinal survey of analysts’ users.
We are committed to avoiding bias and potential conflicts of interests, and remain open to discussing and developing the survey. The design and analysis of the survey is separate from its business development and commercialisation. Kea’s researchers and consultants are committed to the highest standards of ethics in the research process. To find out more, or to take the survey, visit www.analystvaluesurvey.com.
