The IIAR> Institute of Influencer & Analyst Relations / Around Mike Feibus from FeibusTech in 10 questions

Today’s IIAR> Around in 10 questions interview is with Mike Feibus / President & Principal Analyst, FeibusTech (@MikeFeibus, LinkedIn, blog) who covers wearable and health.

What are your coverage areas?
Laptop/tablet/smartphone/wearable hardware, IoT, wireless networking, AI/big data/analytics, digital health, privacy/security, smart home, AR/VR.
What are your opinions of the IT Analysis Marketplace and where do you see it going?
The interplay between three overriding trends are reshaping what both IT vendors and their customers are looking for from analysts. First, the dizzying pace of technology advancement is driving an insatiable hunger for independent, third-party insight. At the same time, the decentralization of independent media is making it harder for decision-makers to find reliable perspective. And if that wasn’t bad enough, never-ending demand for decision-makers’ time means they have less time to hunt for and digest insight. Industry analysts are filling the void, increasingly with new, more creative and concise deliverables. I believe the deliverables will continue to evolve as these three trends further upend business as usual in the marketplace for IT analysis.
What’s your typical day like?
My typical day is typically very long! 😊 I often start whittling down unread emails and getting a feel for the day’s tech news before hopping out of bed. There are usually a handful of calls during which I’m either learning about relevant new technology, filling in some holes in a report I’m writing or brainstorming my next deliverable with a client. Preparing and planning social media outreach might snag up to an hour of my day. Writing often happens in the evening or early morning, when there’s less distraction. When I’m traveling, of course, my days look nothing like this!
Now, c’mon, tell me an AR horror story?
Something I call “PR Prison” is a recurring nightmare for me. With some frequency, vendors’ PR professionals find me before the AR team does. Because I write for the tech section of USA Today as well as CIO Magzine – two sought-after publications – the PR folks won’t give me up because they want credit in case I ever write something about their company. Of course, I’ll never cover their news. Because I’m a columnist, not a reporter. So PR Prison doesn’t serve anyone!
How do you position your firm? What is your business model?
“We understand it better. So we explain it better.” That’s a mantra my clients quickly come to understand. The industry is overcome with what I call “white paper fatigue.” FeibusTech is a leader at defining creative new deliverables that are compelling and approachable. Which is why FeibusTech communications invariably deliver more reach and impact.
Any favourite AR professional you’d like to mention? Any why?
That’s easy – Arthur Bailey at Samsung Business USA, the b2b arm of Samsung Electronics. It is rare to find someone in AR who has such a complete understanding for the entire spectrum of what analysts can offer. He is also very creative in finding the best ways to leverage that value. You don’t see that very often.
Tell us about one good AR practice you’ve experienced or one good AR event you’ve atttended.
In general, I prefer NDA AR events – which means I can’t tell you about them! 😊 But I appreciate them far more than open AR events. NDA means we can delve deeper. Being under NDA, of course, means insights garnered can’t be directly shared. But the enhanced insight can give analysts a much greater degree of confidence that a product is as good as the vendor asserts publicly. Public-minded AR events have a shorter-term feel, with goals that seem more PR-like than AR-like.
What are your offerings and key deliverables?
I like to say that, broadly speaking, FeibusTech’s offerings are divided into two buckets: “insight in” to the client, and “information out” from the client. In general, users tend to lean on us more for insight in – market reports, product comparisons, etc. – while vendors are more likely to leverage our position as respected, independent experts, and ask us to produce documents like technology assessments, case studies and impact reports. Of course, the reverse is often true. Vendors will ask us to produce competitive assessments, for example, as well as evaluate messages for upcoming announcements.
Any hobbies or favourite restaurant / food that you’d like to share?
I love to windsurf. It feeds my analytical nature, only recreationally. So it’s the right combination of challenging and relaxing. I love trying new things on the board, advancing my skills and thinking about what impacts my progress, like my movements, the angle of the sail, etc. Plus, it’s outside, on the water and just the right amount of physical exertion. You can’t do better than that!
What is your biggest challenges for the upcoming 6 months? And for the next 30 mn?
Managing growth is our biggest challenge coming up. Creativity is not an inherently scalable attribute. So how we expand while maintaining the quality that clients have come to expect is top of mind for me.