Would You Pay More For A "Rock Star" Analyst from Gartner, Forrester or IDC?
Banning Blogging
Forrester Research recently banned their analysts from blogging about their area of coverage. This is precipitated by the recent defection of several of their "Rock Star Analysts" who took the brand they created for themselves via their blogs and started up their own boutique firms. Forrester is not alone in their stance on analyst blogging, they have just been more high profile in their stance. Gartner, IDC and other firms are also grappling with this issue. My former colleague at AMR Research, Phil Fersht, wrote an interesting perspective on this in his blog. In it he makes some very valid points about the impact the social media will have on the large analyst firms.
Paying To Retain Top Talent
In my opinion this is a defining time for large analyst firms. Will they adapt to the changing environment or try and hold on and hope blogging is a passing fad? Until they find a way to monetize it they will resist. To me it is a bad move to ban analyst blogging. It creates buzz, establishes credibility and increases the value of the analysts who do it well. It is up to the analyst firms to take advantage of that. Rock stars are worth more than average analysts, clients understand that and are willing to pay a premium for advice from them. The firms need to embrace having rock stars in their stables, demand market prices for them, and compensate them well. This is no different than free agency in sports. If you don't pay market value you will lose your best players. Like the New York Yankees, the big analyst firms can afford to retain their top talent and must do so if they expect to remain on top.
Would You Pay More For A Rock Star Analyst?
There is no doubt that blogging is creating rock star analysts whose reputation and brand has more perceived value than the firm they work for. Would you be willing to pay a premium to talk with these analysts? If not, it is not reasonable to expect your analyst firm to retain them and you should expect more defections. The downside to the client is that to continue to interact with the best analysts you may need to engage several boutique firms. The days of one-stop shopping for analyst advice may be numbered.
Forrester Research recently banned their analysts from blogging about their area of coverage. This is precipitated by the recent defection of several of their "Rock Star Analysts" who took the brand they created for themselves via their blogs and started up their own boutique firms. Forrester is not alone in their stance on analyst blogging, they have just been more high profile in their stance. Gartner, IDC and other firms are also grappling with this issue. My former colleague at AMR Research, Phil Fersht, wrote an interesting perspective on this in his blog. In it he makes some very valid points about the impact the social media will have on the large analyst firms.Paying To Retain Top Talent
In my opinion this is a defining time for large analyst firms. Will they adapt to the changing environment or try and hold on and hope blogging is a passing fad? Until they find a way to monetize it they will resist. To me it is a bad move to ban analyst blogging. It creates buzz, establishes credibility and increases the value of the analysts who do it well. It is up to the analyst firms to take advantage of that. Rock stars are worth more than average analysts, clients understand that and are willing to pay a premium for advice from them. The firms need to embrace having rock stars in their stables, demand market prices for them, and compensate them well. This is no different than free agency in sports. If you don't pay market value you will lose your best players. Like the New York Yankees, the big analyst firms can afford to retain their top talent and must do so if they expect to remain on top.
Would You Pay More For A Rock Star Analyst?
There is no doubt that blogging is creating rock star analysts whose reputation and brand has more perceived value than the firm they work for. Would you be willing to pay a premium to talk with these analysts? If not, it is not reasonable to expect your analyst firm to retain them and you should expect more defections. The downside to the client is that to continue to interact with the best analysts you may need to engage several boutique firms. The days of one-stop shopping for analyst advice may be numbered.
Posted by Dave Kasabian at 2/22/2010 9:06 AM 
Categories: Market Insight, Forrester, IDC, Gartner
Tags: Rock Star Analyst AMR Social Networking Gartner
Categories: Market Insight, Forrester, IDC, Gartner
Tags: Rock Star Analyst AMR Social Networking Gartner
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