Comments on: Big Analyst Firms: Are Silos Killing Benefits of Scale? http://www.redmonk.com/jgovernor/2005/05/26/big-analyst-firms-are-silos-killing-benefits-of-scale/ An industry analyst blog looking at software ecosystems and convergence Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:35:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jon Collins http://www.redmonk.com/jgovernor/2005/05/26/big-analyst-firms-are-silos-killing-benefits-of-scale/comment-page-1/#comment-261 Jon Collins Fri, 27 May 2005 00:19:22 +0000 http://www.redmonk.com/jgovernor/wp/?p=235#comment-261 Perhaps all of these issues are symptoms of a greater problem - as an IT analyst myself, I have to hold my hands up as playing a part, all the while recognising that any influence I can bring to bear to solve it is likely to be small - the downside of scale. I believe the IT analyst community as a whole is doing the IT industry, and its customers, a disservice. There's some great people working for analyst firms large and small, and they are doing some great work, but somehow the overall effect is lost as we try to apply old, functionality driven models to what is a far more amorphous, business and architecture-driven set of requirements. Today's bandwagons cross many segments of functionality, but analysts often still work in a siloed fashion, seeing only a small part of the picture and trying to make sense of it. Its like one of those quiz shows where they show a zoomed in picture, and the contestants have to guess what they are looking at. No wonder perhaps they don't want to share their findings. Somewhere in the none-too-distant past - possibly slap in the middle of the dot-com boom - IT analysts started talking slightly more than they were listening. There's only a limited time left before vendors realise as a community that the IT analyst industry is treading water at best, and failing to deliver useful insight at worst. The mutterings from marketing VP's are becoming more and more vocal, that they are being charged too much and benefiting too little. If this erosion of credibility continues without being counteracted, it is only a matter of time before the fall. I agree as well - insight is nothing without independence. The dependencies are not just financial however - I think that some companies are not only held back by their financial structures, but also by their heritage. Perhaps all of these issues are symptoms of a greater problem – as an IT analyst myself, I have to hold my hands up as playing a part, all the while recognising that any influence I can bring to bear to solve it is likely to be small – the downside of scale. I believe the IT analyst community as a whole is doing the IT industry, and its customers, a disservice. There’s some great people working for analyst firms large and small, and they are doing some great work, but somehow the overall effect is lost as we try to apply old, functionality driven models to what is a far more amorphous, business and architecture-driven set of requirements. Today’s bandwagons cross many segments of functionality, but analysts often still work in a siloed fashion, seeing only a small part of the picture and trying to make sense of it. Its like one of those quiz shows where they show a zoomed in picture, and the contestants have to guess what they are looking at. No wonder perhaps they don’t want to share their findings.

Somewhere in the none-too-distant past – possibly slap in the middle of the dot-com boom – IT analysts started talking slightly more than they were listening. There’s only a limited time left before vendors realise as a community that the IT analyst industry is treading water at best, and failing to deliver useful insight at worst. The mutterings from marketing VP’s are becoming more and more vocal, that they are being charged too much and benefiting too little. If this erosion of credibility continues without being counteracted, it is only a matter of time before the fall.

I agree as well – insight is nothing without independence. The dependencies are not just financial however – I think that some companies are not only held back by their financial structures, but also by their heritage.

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