Stop following the damn herd

There are hundreds of organisations that began searching for a new software application last week.

And many of them are using analyst guidance and reports such as Gartner’s Magic Quadrant and Forrester’s Wave and more relevant to our software Verdantix’s Green Quadrant.

It is sort of amazing that people do this. A simple Google search will highlight the folly of relying on this advice.

Why trusting analyst firm advice is stupid

• Their criteria for inclusion cater for investors and large vendors, not buyers.
• They don’t disclosure what they get paid by the vendors they rate (conflict of interest).
• They don’t disclose a vendor’s component scores.
• Their methodology for where a vendor sits on the map is not transparent at all.
• Only vendors with well staffed analyst relations teams can handle this overhead — guess who really pays?
• Dr Neil Pollock of the University of Edinburgh did some research:

1. He says industry analysts stifle novelty.
2. They have varying forms of influence.
3. They change the market to fit their tools.
4. And most weird of all, their research is used but not believed!

O yes, open source vendors are not considered sufficiently by analysts, I wonder why!

Its just an opinion!

When the legitimacy of Gartner’s MQ was challenged in 2009, Gartner won because they said it contains “pure opinion”, which legally means its not based on fact. Wow!

In 2012 Michael Rasmussen, a long time Forrester analyst published a “rant” regarding the methods and outcomes of Gartner and Forrester analysis. Many online responses validated him.

In fact, one of the services he offers is Clean-up: “I often come in and help organizations, particularly large ones, when they went down a wrong road. I have spent a lot of time cleaning up messes of recommendations from Gartner and Forrester.”

Money talks

My personal experience confirms all of this. In previous lives, be it in FinTech or ERP, you have to engage financially with these analyst firms before you get on their radar.

And then, the blatant nonsense they write about your software, shatters their credibility. You realise, if they say this about our own software, what can I believe about what they write about our competitors? And how is it possible for prospective clients to trust this garbage?

Smoke and mirrors

It is so bad because they simply write what you tell and demo to them. You can smoke and mirror them just as easily as you can fleece prospective clients. So what is the point?

“fired for following big time analyst guidance”

The thing is, whether you’re looking for a system for a small organisation or one for a large multinational, you cannot play it “safe”. Following the herd logic of “no one has ever been fired for following Forrester guidance” is selling yourself and your company short!

You want to know stuff like this:

• How do I get started with your software?
• How will you help me to protect my organisation, every day and everywhere?
• What do I need before I can start using your system?
• How much does the system really cost…over time?
• How do I solve each of my unique problems with your system?
• What’s the quickest way to achieve my goal or solve my problem with your system?
• How long does it take before I see value?
• How will you deal with my unique problems and goals?
• How will you help me motivate my organisation to adopt your system?
• What should I look for when comparing your software and services to others out there?
• What are the best practices for your software system?
• How can I be sure you’re not scamming me with what you claim about your software?
• Show me!
• Allow me to try before I commit, no strings, for free!

None of these things are particularly difficult. All you need is for your chosen vendor to be transparent and give you full access to everything you need. Then you can make an informed choice.

Alas, famous analysts rarely bother to encourage this.