Archive | AR Agencies

What’s really going on with Ovum? Meet the MD, Aneil Rakity

By David Rossiter on Monday 18th September 2017 in IIAR Webinar, Ovum, Sunesis AR 0

Ovum (related blog posts, website) the UK-based analyst firm which enjoys a soft spot in the hearts of many AR pros, has gone through tough times in recent years.

Multiple changes of ownership accompanied by several different MDs have led to inconsistent and regularly changing strategies for the business, and a considerable turnover of staff.

Is this period in Ovum’s history now at an end, following the appointment of Aneil Rakity (LinkedIn) as the MD in 2016?

David Rossiter (LinkedIn, @davidrossiter), IIAR UK Chapter and director of analyst relations at Harvard, had the opportunity recently to sit down with Aneil and chief research officer Tim Jennings (@tjennings, LinkedIn) to find out what’s going on.

Read on for this and don’t miss the IIAR Webinar with Ovum on Wednesday 25th October > REGISTER NOW.

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[GUEST POST] IIAR Webinar: ‘Tis the season for Gartner Methodologies

By Suzannah Archibald on Friday 15th September 2017 in AR, AR Agencies, AR Best practices, CC Group, Gartner, IIAR Webinar, MagicQuadrant 0

On September 7^th, the CCgroup AR team joined IIAR’s latest webinar on Gartner methodologies with by David Black (LinkedIn), MVP Methodologies & Content Engagement at Gartner and moderated by Ludovic Leforestier (@lludovic, LinkedIn), from the IIAR Board.

David spoke about the firm’s research methodology behind reports such as Magic Quadrants and Critical Capabilities.

The AR community has always been tuned in to Gartner’s research calendars, with “Every season is Magic Quadrant season” being the mantra shared by many. As such, many AR professionals were keen to learn more from David. Continue Reading →

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German IIAR Summer Stammtisch 2017: scope of AR, ISG/Experton and Paulaner

By Yvonne Kaupp on Monday 31st July 2017 in AR Best practices, Destrier Communications, IIAR AR café, IIAR Germany, IIAR Networking Event 0

One of the most picturesque beer gardens in Munich was the setting for this year’s IIAR German Chapter Summer Event, gathering AR professionals and industry analysts. Our topic of the night was what it takes to make an analyst relations (AR) program mature and strong.

As we discussed, what success looks like actually depends on your business objectives and expectations of the individual companies and stakeholders. We all recognised that “AR” has a very wide scope, since it also covers many complementary disciplines and – depending on your job – may include Market Intelligence, Go-to-Market, PR, Sales Enablement, Strategy, or all of these. Reporting lines also influence the weighting of AR components. Continue Reading →

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IIAR Webinar: Crisp Research outlines European expansion

By Simon Jones on Wednesday 21st June 2017 in AR, AR debates, Crisp Research, Destrier Communications, IIAR Germany, IIAR Webinar

This spring, Crisp Research announced the appointment of well-known industry analyst Stefan Ried to head up a new practice area focused on the Internet of Things. For @Crisp_Research, his arrival was a big step – signaling aspirations beyond its core DACH market (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) to grow and cover all of Europe. And for @StefanRied, it was a return to the analyst industry after spending the last two years with a vendor.
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[GUEST POST] IDC EMEA provide the IIAR with their current State of the Union: What’s changing for this year and next?

By Suzannah Archibald on Thursday 25th May 2017 in CC Group, IDC, IIAR, IIAR Webinar

By Suzannah Archibald (LinkedIn, @suzannah_a), Head of Analyst Relations at CCgroup.

IDC is usually one of the better analyst houses I encounter. They usually show tight co-ordination amongst their end-user practices, and reach out and access their client and subscriber database across over 10,000 IT decision-maker professionals (and counting). So, in mid-2017, what’s changed at IDC? And how are they handling organisational change since their change of ownership, earlier this year? These were just some of the questions posed by Industry Analyst Relations professionals at a recent IIAR webinar and networking session with…

Dan Timberlake (UK&I MD, VP Sales, EMEA), Tom Meyer (GVP Research EMEA, @tomtxt), and Mathew Heath (EMEA Marketing Director, himself the brains behind the always-entertaining @IDC_EMEA account).
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IIAR London Forum: Creating AR impact – are agencies an asset or a threat

By Maria Ashton on Wednesday 7th September 2016 in AR, AR Agencies, AR Best practices, AR debates, Events, Heavy Reading, IIAR, IIAR Forum, IIAR UK

To kickstart Q3 and the forthcoming events season, the U.K. Chapter of the IIAR has organised an evening of healthy debate, intelligent content and responsible drinking.

The topic for our panel discussion is an evergreen one: should vendors keep AR in-house or could they benefit from external support?

Agenda – Wednesday 14th September 2016 – London

1800: Welcome drinks
1815: Welcome note & update by the IIAR Board
1830: Tutorial: Case studies in Effective External AR support, Dominic Pannell /Buzz Method (LinkedIn, @buzzmethod)
1900: Panel discussion – Creating AR impact – are agencies an asset or a threat?
Chaired by Ludovic Leforestier /Bearing Point and IIAR Board (@lludovic, LinkedIn) with
- Tom Buttle /Chameleon (LinkedIn, @Tom_Buttle)
- Alexia O’Sullivan / EY (LinkedIn, @alexiaosullivan)
- Tim O’Sullivan / Deloitte (LinkedIn, @legbend)
- David Rossiter / Sunesis Global AR (LinkedIn, @davidrossiter)
2000: Analyst firm spotlight with Aditya Kishore / Heavy Reading (an Informa company)
2045: Drinking Class on Gin presented by Paulina Michelak, By The Bottle
2115: networking sponsored by Tenderlake and By The Bottle – Networking Through Responsible Drinking

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IIAR Best Practice Paper: Agile Analyst Relations

By Yvonne Kaupp on Saturday 27th February 2016 in AR, AR Best practices, Destrier Communications, IIAR, IIAR Best Practices Paper, IIAR Germany, IIAR Webinar

Horst Kuchling, Yvonne Kaupp and Simon Jones (from left to right) German IIAR Chapter

One of the biggest misconceptions about Analyst Relations is that you need megabucks or unlimited budgets in order to succeed. Of course, having the financial muscle to engage with analysts will ultimately get you further – and help drive deeper relationships with your Tier One analysts, but you can also do it on a budget. Continue Reading →

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IDC, End-Users and Strategic AR – all at our latest London meeting

By trevoriiar on Thursday 16th October 2014 in AR debates, Events, IDC, IIAR, IIAR Forum, Skills Connections, Sunesis AR

Well, that was a late one but well worth it.

In a mammoth three hour meeting (we didn’t lock the doors, people just didn’t want to leave) those attending last night’s IIAR meeting in London enjoyed an informative interview Marianne Kolding of IDC by Simon ‘Jeremy’ Levin of The Skills Connection Continue Reading →

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IIAR Webinar – Everest Group – Technology Trends Re-shape Global Services

By trevoriiar on Tuesday 1st April 2014 in Everest Group, IIAR, IIAR Webinar, Skills Connections

Report from the IIAR Webinar with Everest Group, on the 19th March 2014, presented by Eric Simonson (Managing Partner, Research), Rajesh Ranjan (VP, BPO), Jimit Arora (VP IT Services) and hosted by Simon Levin (IIAR Board)

In the webinar, Everest Group examined key trends that are re-shaping global services (Everest Group defines global services as the intersection of the solution model, technology model, talent and location model, and the sourcing model). In addition, Everest Group identified seven technology themes that are creating broad-based disruption in the IT and Business Process Services market. Continue Reading →

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[GUEST POST] So what to social media?

By David Rossiter on Thursday 27th March 2014 in AR, AR Best practices, Celent, Quocirca, Redmonk, Sunesis AR

By David Rossiter (LinkedIn, @davidrossiter) from Sunesis.

The question of how AR professionals should use social media keeps cropping up.

Even though social is a part of our daily lives, I am still asked whether it’s okay to use Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook to contact analysts – never mind apps like WhatsApp, Pinterest, Instagram and Snapchat. And I’m not alone.

There has been no shortage of social media gurus who happily told us that social media would radically transform the world of AR.

Yet my colleagues at the IIAR and I found ourselves continually asking the same thing. Has that transformation actually happened?

No-one would dispute that social media has had some impact. Still, has it really changed the fundamental way in which an AR professional needs to be work if they’re to be successful and effective?

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Making the most of CeBIT (even at the last minute)

By admin on Tuesday 4th March 2014 in AR, AR Agencies, AR Best practices, AR debates, Forrester, IIAR Best Practices Paper, IIAR Germany, tips

It’s big, and it’s just around the corner – it’s CeBIT time again. For AR professionals attending the show, the IIAR has put together a new paper sharing expert tips, both from ARs and analysts, on how to best use CeBIT to connect with and build relationships with analysts. This is available free of charge in our IIAR Members Area.

Even though CeBIT looms large – many vendors begin media briefings in Hanover on Sunday – both ARs and analysts also agree that it is still possible to set up meetings at short notice. However, CeBIT is not the place to expose analysts to a full-on deep dives into a new or revised strategy. See the white paper (link, membership required) to learn more about what leading Forrester analyst Pascal Matzke (LinkedIn, bio, @pascalmatzke) recommends for AR professionals. Continue Reading →

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Examining The New Gartner Interactive Magic Quadrant

By simonlevin on Wednesday 3rd July 2013 in Gartner, MagicQuadrant, Skills Connections

Gartner has recently announced that an enhanced version of the Magic Quadrant will be released on 29 July. So what’s driving this change, what is it, and what does it mean to you as an AR professional?

Here comes MQ 2.0
The Gartner MQ has not really changed its physical appearance since its original introduction. The famous two-by-two matrix and dots started life on paper and were effectively shifted onto the web with no real change. Over the years, the MQ has been industrialized at the back end with a structured measurement methodology. The front end moved from a static, locked-in-PDF view to a mildly interactive view several years ago, where users could mouse-over a position to read vendor specific strengths and challenges. The degree of interactivity however is about to increase dramatically.

So what’s driving this minor revolution? Continue Reading →

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Analyst events- Is booze better than a booth? Financial Services- Why economic downturn is killing the City but not European FS industry analysts

By admin on Thursday 14th March 2013 in AR Best practices, Celent, IDC Financial Insights, IIAR, IIAR Forum, Metia, Ovum, Silva Research Network, Sunesis AR

Blog courtesy of: Simon Levin (IIAR Board Member), Managing Director at The Skills Connection

David Rossiter (IIAR UK Chapter), Director at Sunesis Analyst Relations

The IIAR held its latest London Forum at the UK HQ of the IT services giant Tata Consultancy Services last night. The event saw a turn-out of over 30 of UK’s leading AR and marketing professionals to have a discussion with fellow AR pros on sponsoring analyst events and listen to views of some of the best Analysts in the Financial Services sector. Participants included Dell, Symantec, Deloitte, BAE Systems Detica, Bearing Point, Cognizant, Edinburgh University and AGT International.

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The London Forum started with a best practices roundtable chaired by IIAR Board Member Caroline Dennington (@CDennington, LinkedIn) and one of the IIAR UK Chapter Leads David Rossiter (@davidrossiter, LinkedIn) on sponsoring analyst events. One of the many issues covered circled around the ROI of sponsorship packages vs. simple hospitality. Continue Reading →

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[GUEST POST] The Final Countdown… or how to survive attending MWC 2013

By Suzannah Archibald on Tuesday 26th February 2013 in AR, AR Best practices, Gartner, Guest Post, IIAR, IIAR Webinar, Loudhouse

It’s that time of year again. When all thoughts turn to the biggest global mobile technology and applications showcase in the world, Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress (MWC). Held each year by the GSMA, the show unveils some key yearly indicators that any attending exhibitor, press member, or aspiring Steve Jobs-acolyte should know about mobile.

According to a recent IIAR webcast I listened into with industry analysts Keith Humphreys of euroLAN and Catherine Haslam of Ovum, as well as members of the IIAR membership committee, estimates say that you’ll be one of nearly 1,500 exhibitors, and more than 67,000 attending members of the public. And if MWC 2012 estimates from the GSMA hold up this year, there could be many more who are interested in demonstrating or learning about your mobile wares.

How can you possibly hope to get maximum value out of Analysts who are attending MWC 2013? Continue Reading →

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IIAR London Forum on 7th March 2013 in London

By admin on Monday 25th February 2013 in AR Best practices, Celent, Gartner, HFS Research, IDC Financial Insights, IIAR, IIAR Forum, Metia, Micro Focus, Ovum, Silva Research Network, Symantec

The next IIAR London Forum will be held on March 7th at 1600 GMT in London (near Victoria)!

For this event we have two great topics on the agenda:

Best Practice session on ‘Sponsoring and Exhibiting at Analyst Events’. Which events and sponsorship types work, what are some of the best practices to get the best value from your investment and which specific analyst events work (and which don’t). Led by a panel of expert AR professionals including Caroline Dennington (Symantec) and Julian Dobbins (Micro Focus).
Analyst Roundtable on ‘Hot Buttons for Financial Services’. Where will the analysts be focusing their research in this sector in 2013 and how can you best position your company’s products and services as a result. Confirmed for this panel are Peter Redshaw (Gartner), Daniel Mayo (Ovum), Catherine Stagg-Macey (Celent), Alex Kwiatkowski (IDC Financial Insights) and Ralph Silva (SRN, HfS and often times the BBC) with Sally Yates (Metia) as chair.
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A New Year and a New Owner for Yankee Group – the 451 Group

By simonlevin on Tuesday 8th January 2013 in 1/4 news, 451 Group, IIAR, Skills Connections

On January 3^rd 451 Group announced the acquisition of Yankee Group from Alta Communications (private equity firm) for an undisclosed sum. All Yankee Group employees are to be retained and the company will operate as an independent division of the 451 Group adding the 18 analysts (and 7 affiliate analysts) of Yankee Group to the roster of some 60 analysts at 451 Group. Terry Waters will stay on as CEO of the new 451 division.

You can find some interesting analysis by Duncan Chapple regarding the financial background to this acquisition at www.analystequity.com/1853/yankee-group-saved-by-451-acquisition. Duncan’s perspective is reflective of the recent re-structuring at Yankee Group and provides some good historical context to Yankee Group’s past ownership. Continue Reading →

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[Guest Post] Humpty Gartner’s Logic

By simonlevin on Monday 19th November 2012 in Guest Post, Skills Connections

Blog courtesy of: Simon Levin (IIAR Board Member), Managing Director at The Skills Connection

A client of mine was talking to a Gartner analyst recently and learned, to his delight, that the analyst had given a particular prospect a clear steer in his direction.

“They’re a mid-sized company and they asked for my advice on relevant vendors, so I told them you guys were definitely relevant for small and mid-sized enterprises,” the analyst said.

But nothing happened. Our client didn’t hear from the prospect. And it was only later that we discovered our client had even been removed from a previously compiled consideration list as a direct result of this brief conversation.

The client was mortified. The analyst was baffled. The prospect, of course, missed the opportunity of acquiring what may well have been the best possible solution for his particular set of requirements. Continue Reading →

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[GUEST POST] Big Dogs don’t yap: the secret ingredient for MQ success

By simonlevin on Tuesday 3rd July 2012 in AR, AR Best practices, AR debates, Gartner, Guest Post, IT Analysis Firms, MagicQuadrant, Skills Connections

Blog courtesy of: Simon Levin (IIAR Board Member)

What is it that makes the difference when it comes to making the step up into the Leaders section of Gartner’s Magic Quadrant? Ever wondered what companies who gain recognition as Leaders have in common? Having seen four of our MQ Tune-Up clients gain Leaders status for the first time last quarter, I thought it might be interesting to go looking for some common themes or attributes.

And as it turned out, the exercise was well worth the effort, because it highlighted one key factor I’d never consciously identified before.

We’re calling it the Big Dog syndrome, and it’s all about looking the part, acting like a Leader right from the start, and, above all, believing that that top right quadrant is your rightful home.

There’s more about this idea on The Skills Connection’s blog but the essence of it is blindingly simple. For a company to be perceived as a Leader, it has to have a leaderly air about it. It has to radiate conviction, as well as competence. It needs to put its case across well, but without the yapping, snapping desperation that marks out those that try too hard. Continue Reading →

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[Guest Post] Does the consulting approach beat published research?

By simonlevin on Monday 21st May 2012 in AR, AR Agencies, AR debates, Gartner, Guest Post, HFS Research, IT Analysis Firms, Skills Connections

By: Simon Levin, The Skills Connection / IIAR UK Co-Chapter Lead

We saw an interesting blogging spat last week between Stanton Jones of ISG and Lydia Leong at Gartner, with the flames fanned by tweeted comments from Phil Fersht of HfS. The row was centred on some research published recently by Lydia on managed hosting providers, but its ramifications are much wider.

For those who haven’t yet followed the Twitter feeds and blog links, let me try to summarise what’s going on.

Stanton’s charge is that Magic Quadrants serve a purpose by offering insight into vendors and products, but that the high-level nature of the analysis means they are poor primary tools for making choices. He emphasises the lack of nuance possible in a written article, compared with the detailed, customised insight that can be provided via a consulting engagement. And, of course, he is right. Continue Reading →

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IIAR Teleconference: KCG and Intelligen present an APJ view of the global analyst landscape

By admin on Monday 14th May 2012 in AR Agencies, IIAR, IIAR Discussion Group, IIAR Webinar, KGC

Due to popular demand we will once again be holding KCG’s presentation on the global analyst landscape. It proved a huge hit among US and EMEA AR audiences so we would like to extend the opportunity to those of you in Asia-Pacific to take part.

The teleconference will be held on Wednesday 6^th June at 11am Sydney / 9am Singapore when the Knowledge Capital Group (KCG) will be delivering an APJ perspective on the definitive market share and market size numbers for Analyst Firms globally. Continue Reading →

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