Richard Stiennon was a VP Research at Gartner. He is a widely quoted and followed independent analyst that covers the IT security industry. He is the author of Surviving Cyberwar (Rowman&Littlefield, 2010). He was Chief Marketing Officer for Fortinet, and has held positions at Webroot Software and PricewaterhouseCoopers. He has presented in 26 countries on six continents. He writes the Cyber Domain blog for Forbes.com. He was named one of the “50 Most Powerful People in Networking” by Network World Magazine and was given Gartner’s Thought Leadership Award in 2003. His experience on both sides of the analyst influence equation has led to the publication of this guide to influencing analysts.
Richard Stiennon did not help my ulcers when he worked for me at Gartner. Attempting to manage this guy was very challenging when I was a Managing VP supervising the security team. But he was a damn fine analyst. His book demonstrates how Richard has turned his unique talents to analyzing the analyst business, and in particular, in providing sound advice to market players seeking favorable position on Gartner's infamous Magic Quadrant, the Forrester Wave and the equivalent vendor evaluations from some of the smaller research houses.
But keep in mind that these firms all have other publications, and so Richard's tips for influencing the analysts have broad applicability to a wide range of reports, as well as analyst interactions with clients through inquiry, "consults," one-on-ones or other exchanges with end-users and the buyers of technology products and services.
At the end of the day, the vendor focused research is the equivalent of a Consumers' Report on technology. Playing the game well is the advice Richard's book provides, and it does that comprehensively and admirably.
BTW, my ulcers healed sometime after Richard (and I) left the company. I feel much better now, but miss him and am glad to see him "around" at various conferences and et cetera.
Victor S. Wheatman, former Managing Vice President at Gartner; Currently Senior Director: Security, Fraud and Risk, Javelin Strategy & Research
The other day I was waiting to give a talk on cyber security and listening to another speaker before me. A question came from the audience that refuted the speaker's statements. The audience member said, "Well, EVERYONE knows that x, y, z is true." I blurted out from my seat, "I know that what you are claiming is supposedly conventional wisdom, but how do you know that?" She said, "Analyst firm "X" wrote it in a paper, so it must be accurate." But of course, there is ample evidence and research to the contrary from other from non-industry analysts.
Certainly, there are many brilliant people working in the ranks of analyst firms, and some excellent reports are published every week from numerous firms. But some aspects of the model are completely broken. I think it's time to consider "term limits" for some analyst positions so that they can stay fresh and unbiased, as well as think about the need for some firms to consider divesting consulting practices when they make assertions regarding being vendor agnostic. Also, there are inherent challenges in a model in which firms accept hundreds of thousands of dollars from both enterprise customers and vendors and attempt to remain completely impartial.
Richard's book is timely, thought provoking and a must-read for any IT exec who is trying to determine how to weigh the value of research firm opinions in the decision support process.
Product Details :
- Paperback: 186 pages
- Publisher: IT-Harvest Press (May 1, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0985460709
- ISBN-13: 978-0985460709
- Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.4 x 9 inches
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