Institute of Industry Analyst Relations (IIAR)The IIAR is a not-for-profit organisation established to raise awareness of analyst relations and the value of industry analysts, promote best practice amongst analyst relations professionals, enhance communication between analyst firms and vendors, and offer opportunities for AR practitioners to network with their industry peers.
London, 1st April 2021 (not an April fool). IIAR> Members have elected a new board member for the Membership and Operations role. The IIAR> Board is pleased to welcome Crystal Golightly (@crysgolightly, LinkedIn) as a voluntary board member to this key position, looking after nurturing and growing our membership.
In her day job, Crystal is the VP Customer Experience & Operations at ARInsights, the provider of ARchitect, an analyst relations management platform supporting AR professionals worldwide.
Do you have what it takes to “move the dot”? Destrier is looking for a mid-/senior-level Analyst Relations professional to join our award-winning team, either part- or full-time, to work with global players in the technology services arena.
Robin Schaffer (LinkedIn, @robinjs19)’s new book, Analysts on Analyst Relations: The SageCircle Guide, weaves the verbatim recommendations of dozens of veteran analysts into a powerful argument for AR teams to test out leading-edge AR activities, far beyond what passes for regular AR best practice. Schaffer is a long-time AR leader: She and I are part of the Analyst Observatory at the University of Edinburgh, and Robin is US lead for Kea Company, whose SageCircle service published the book. The IIAR just nominated her agency, Schaffer AR, among the five best in the world: That award is an astonishing accomplishment because her firm is only months old.
Given her experience and success, it’s no surprise that Schaffer has written a unique and educational book. It gives you a look into the world of analyst relations from the perspective of experienced analysts. Her book provides an insight into how companies can effectively use analysts to drive their business forward.
Duncan Chapple
Answering top analyst questions about your business can be a daunting task. This book shares insights not only from Schaffer, but also two successful AR book authors on how to shift analysts’ perceptions and use analysts to advance your business: AR grandfather Efrem Mallach, whose third edition of Win Them Over features an introduction by the IIAR’s Ludovic Leforrestier, and Kea Company CEO Sven Litke, my co-author of Influencer Relations: Insights on Analyst Value.
There are six ideas that I found especially engaging in the book. Whether you are new to AR or an experienced professional, you’ll learn:
AR is not primarily about making analysts happy. Kevin Lucas, Forrester’s analyst serving AR professionals, notes how this point is strongly made in the introduction by Efrem Mallach.
Influence differs between analysts. Schaffer shares a key secret: focus is needed in transforming a few top analysts into champions of your firm. This insight-packed guide shows how to create a clear alignment with your key analysts’ interests and biases, to end up with a loyal advocate. You may not be able to target all key analysts, so focus on credible analysts who are open-minded and ready to engage.
Analysts are not the only influencers. Analysts are consumers and producers of thought leadership. However, Schaffer points out other B2B influencers such as academics, bloggers, customers and journalists. If you watch closely, you can see which influencers your analysts listen to and which influencers amplify your analysts. Aim at the thought leaders and you also shift their followers.
Win-win relationships do not pay to play. Analysts have a complicated relationship with vendors, even though both should educate their shared customers to make the best choices. Since pay-to-play analyst firms quickly discredit themselves, Schaffer recommends a focus on analysts who want win-win relationships.
Analysts want to be heard and seen. Vendors seem to be only after one thing: positive mentions. Analysts are frustrated by vendors who don’t want to understand or support their workflow. Influencing analysts involves helping meet their goals. That means putting yourself in their shoes and aligning your language and relationship to their mindset.
Trust is the key to great relationships. At times, many analysts feel ignored, manipulated, or misled. Influential analysts want to serve multiple stakeholders: buyers, users, regulators, investors, etc. If you cannot be relied upon to provide trustworthy information, the analysts will distrust you. You will either burn your bridges immediately or after the analyst burns their relationship with a client who refutes what you told the analyst.
Analysts on Analyst Relations captures insights and sage advice shared by analysts, unusually providing an easy-to-read book that is informative and fun, with a genuine, supportive and encouraging tone. It is perfect for professionals who have just embarked on their careers in analyst relations, although everyone interested in analyst advocacy will benefit.
This short book aims to show how understanding analysts’ perspectives on AR can help both generate advocacy and gain insights. If you’re looking for an easy way to learn about why analysts say what they do about your company, then this book is for you.
The best way to help vendors meet analysts’ needs is to help them understand how analysts think about the analyst relations process. As a low-cost purchase, it has the potential to reach a much bigger audience than buying expensive AR advisory from Gartner and Forrester. Uniquely, this book is built from the insights of analysts with years of experience, curated by AR veterans who know what top analysts need from vendors.
The IIAR> recognise top industry analysts and influencer relations professionals at a global virtual celebration; winners are IDC, Peggy O’Neill / Informatica, and the Oracle AR team
London, Friday 18th December 2020. The Institute of Industry Analyst Relations (IIAR>), a not-for-profit member influencer relations association announced the winners of Analyst and Firm of the Year 2020, Analyst Relations (AR) Professional, AR Team and AR Agency of the Year 2020 at its (virtual) annual gala event.
“This was an incredible year as AR professionals were tasked with evolving AR programs to fully digital formats and realigning programs as many organisations grappled with the impact the pandemic has had on their businesses.”
Although technology buyers are traditionally twice as likely to rely on analyst reports as on reviews from their peers, today’s buyers want the whole truth. And this is how enterprise peer reviews are disrupting the Analyst Relations business.
Join TrustRadius CEO Vinay Bhagat (@VinayBhagat, LinkedIn) for this hard-hitting session where he will outline TrustRadius’ perspectives on:
Whether Gartner and the legacy analyst firms can still hold the key to the CIO – and the enterprise buyer – and the implications for AR professionals
What information and sources buyers trust – and what they don’t – and why
How industry analysts are increasingly relying on end user reviews
How the secret structure of the buying committee for enterprise technology and services can marginalize analyst influence
How it’s actually easier to manage hundreds of reviewers than a handful of analysts
Gartner Peer Insights has recently made changes. Hear from Shannon Wedding (LinkedIn, @shannon_wedding) and Anatoli Olkhovets (LinkedIn, @anatoli_o) on what AR pros need to know about what’s new with Peer Insights.
Our current working environment has been a challenge for everyone, sector to sector. Workers have been uprooted from usual routines and practices; some have flourished, finding inspiration from their sofas, while others have been stifled by children, pets, and noisy neighbours. Despite this upheaval, we have had to adjust and adapt in the best way possible. Whilst some “norms” have fallen by the wayside, others have been embraced and formulated into a more efficient and enhanced way of working from home.
The next Best Practice paper in the IIAR>’s new series on best practice will focus on a topic that should be close to the heart of every AR professional: AR Measurement.
Often thought to be the Holy Grail of AR, how can a vendor (cost-) effectively track the true RoI of engagement with industry analysts? Is it about recommendations and proving influence over deals? Perhaps you are tracking touchpoints, endorsements, the number of Magic Quadrants in which a vendor is included, or even the number of times your favorite analyst tweets about your brand. Or perhaps you focus on softer factors such as analyst sentiment?
We’ll take a deep dive into this evergreen topic in an interactive IIAR> session co-hosted by Nadia Nizar (@nadianizar, LinkedIn), at Resonance and IIAR> Board member Simon Jones (@SimonDestrier, LinkedIn). This is the first step in the production of a new IIAR> white paper on successful measurement strategies.
We invite you to join us and share your views: We are gathering opinions on effective AR measurement from IIAR> members, so make sure your views are heard! We want to listen to different voices and encourage a healthy debate. Also – join us and chime in if you’re interested in learning more about AR measurement – we’d like to understand your priorities.
Hard on the heels of Gartner’s presentation to IIAR> members on its new initiatives for AR professionals, we’re opening up the conversation to our member in an open forum session.
Join us for a no holds barred debrief – to be held under the Chatham House Rule – where we’ll drill into the thought-provoking insights shared by Gartner’s Matt Goldman and Lindsay McKinney. Register now for the moderated open forum discussion to be held on Thursday June 18th at 0800 PDT / 1100 EDT / 1600 BST.
As many have heard, Gartner has recently established an AR advisory team, similar to Forrester’s AR Council. They’ve also launched a new product specifically for AR professionals that we know many members have questions about. The IIAR is excited to invite Lindsay McKinney (LinkedIn, @lindsaymccune) / Sr. Director Analyst and Matt Goldman (LinkedIn) / Managing VP from Gartner to present information about Gartner’s new initiatives for AR professionals, exclusively for IIAR members only.
Be the first to hear about what they’re planning and have your questions answered at this live event on Thursday 11th June 11 at 1100 EDT / 1600 BST.
Join us for a presentation from Chris Andrews / VP Research Product Management, Forrester (bio, @chrisandrews50) for an overview of Forrester’s research portfolio.
Duncan Brown has returned to IDC in a significant new role within the EMEA organization, after 16 months with a vendor. As newly appointed Vice President, European Enterprise Research, Brown (LinkedIn / @duncanwbrown) takes on a 40-plus strong analyst team including Software, Services, Accelerated App Delivery (AccAD), Artificial Intelligence, Channels and Ecosystems.
451 Research, one of the leading independent analyst firms has been acquired by credit ratings, benchmarks and analytics giant S&P Global.
The deal marks expansion plans for 451 Research, which
recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, and has around 90 analysts
and 15 consultants on its roster.
Is there life after Forrester? The analysts at Research In Action certainly think so!
Join the IIAR webinar on Wednesday November 20 to find out more about Research In Action (RIA). We’ll be joined by RIA founder Dr Thomas Mendel (LinkedIn, @drthomasmendel) and recent recruit Eveline Oehrlich (LinkedIn, @eoehrlich), who is now back in Germany after her stint in the US.
As the largest analyst firm, everyone in analyst relations is impacted by their relationship with Gartner. From contract negotiations to account management to research coverage, our AR programs are greatly impacted by Gartner’s offerings, communications.
Last week we hosted the IIAR Summer Networking Party 2019 in London kindly sponsored by Criteo and Spotlight Analyst Relations. On behalf of the IIAR, I wanted to say a big ‘Thank you!’ to all who could join us in celebrating the achievements of the Analyst Relations community and hope that you’ll join us again at future events.
London, Thursday 04th July 2019 – The wait has an end…. Whilst the USA are celebrating their Independence Day, the IIAR members celebrated their annual IIAR Summer Party, kindly sponsored by Criteo and Spotlight AR this year. Highlight of the evening was the announcement of the IIAR AR Professional of the Year 2019, a highly coveted recognition among the AR professionals.
Needless to say that there were plenty of reasons to celebrate at this traditional event that brings together the AR professionals and agencies as well as the analysts who joined us from Gartner, Forrester, IDC, Ovum, 451 Research and many others for an evening full of great discussions and insights. The party is a great opportunity to engage with peers from the AR community and exchange best practices, get feedback from the key analysts in the industry and build or strengthens new and existing relationships.
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