This #friday’s post is about a minor celebrity of the telecoms world. After a rich career at Yankee (now 451
), Ovum and IDC, Chris (@chr1slew1s, LinkedIn) has now set up his own indie consultinng firm under the eponymous name of Lewis Insights. Read on!
- What are your coverage areas?
After over 30 years of working in telecoms & networking, I cover all aspects of the industry and related value and supply chains. I believe my strength lies in taking the whole picture and understanding how the pieces fit together. In short, telecoms is entering a period when the economic laws of demand and supply will kick in as telecoms becomes part of the broader ICT eco system, so that’s my focus!
- What are your opinions of the IT Analysis Marketplace and where do you see it going?
The analyst industry has sliced and diced the topics to infinitesimally small pieces. It has lost sight of the importance of how it all fits together, let alone how telecoms, for example, fits into the emerging digital landscape for consumers and business alike. There has been too much emphasis on technology and not enough on how it can help drive economic activity. - What’s your typical day like?
Isn’t the beauty of being an analyst that there isn’t a typical day? Keeping up with developments from key players in the industry always takes up some times whether through reading (listening in my case) or in person at vendor events. Doing paid work for clients in the form of workshops, presentations, individual senior level discussions with executives. Thank goodness, no typical day! - Now, c’mon, tell me an AR horror story?
An analyst event that simply misses the opportunity to get the company message across in a professional manner is inexcusable. Unforgivable is also when the vendor talks over the partners or end users guest speakers who have great value to add to the vendor position. So, no specific horror story but lessons to be learned by vendors in putting on an analyst event. - How do you position your firm? What is your business model?
Individual interaction with executives, workshops, sales or client conferences and through the blog, making people think about the industry and its evolution. And, where required, building a consortium of skills to deliver research and consulting projects. Over 30 years I have many links into all sorts of companies to deliver a full range of projects. Mainly on the industry supply side but past experience tells me it will inevitably also involve end users helping them understand how to work best with the ever fluid ICT supply chain! - What is your research methodology?
This is a jigsaw puzzle, so the methodology is to understand the pieces and then see how they fit together. I listen to and quiz all industry participants based on my knowledge of how the market works. - Tell us about one good AR practice you’ve experienced or one good AR event you’ve attended.
The best AR events are those that clearly paint the big picture and then allow the analysts to drop down into their particular subjects. Customer Case Studies are always valuable but fundamentally access to the senior management team is essential. - What are your offerings and key deliverables?
Clients want punchy and relevant input that focuses on their particular perspective of the industry. My offering is to work at whatever level is required to help understand their market environment and drive the business. I use Twitter and blogs to present my views on general industry trends and players but will drill down on a live interaction basis though strategy sessions, presentations at internal, client and industry events. - Any hobbies or favourite restaurant / food that you’d like to share?
Not a hobby, but I sit on several boards for the Royal National Institute for Blind. I also chair the Vision 2020 Technology for Life board which sits across many Visually Impaired (VI) charities. The application of digital technology to enhance VI peoples’ lives is a fascinating application of our industry’s activities. Being registered blind hasn’t stopped my thirst for sporting activity. I played football (soccer) with fully sighted friends for many years but now Blind cricket, tennis, golf and riding a tandem give me the perfect antidote to the demands of being an analyst. (Happy to answer any questions but, for golfers, it is a purely mechanical sport once you get lined up correctly by your partner, it’s a doddle!) - What is your biggest challenges for the upcoming 6 months? And for the next 30 mn?
The biggest challenge is simple.: establishing Lewis Insight as the go to place for clients around the world to benefit from accumulated knowledge as well as insight into future developments and industry make-up. In the next 30 minutes I will be updating my LinkedIn Status whilst recovering from a round of golf with a member of the IIAR board.
Great insight Chris and I hope you have now recovered from the round of golf :0)