Analysts Value in Purchasing & Supply Management?
As a purchasing practitioner, I never gave much credibility to analyst reports. They always seemed like a thinly-veiled pay-to-play thing where the vendor shells out some money and the analyst report is supposed to lead you to believe that they are a valuable vendor.
About a decade ago, when I was responsible for selecting an eProcurement system for the company I worked for, vendors would present their analyst reports as if that was the last piece of the puzzle needed to seal the deal. To me, those reports were worthless.
In the past several weeks, I've come across several situations where I've really scratched my head about the analyst world. Perhaps I'll blog about these stories at some point.
But today on Sourcing Innovation, Michael launched a post that generated a little discussion about analysts. The discussion really went off the beaten path from Michael's original post. So I figured that I'd invite some of the respondents over here to discuss the issue further.
Here's what I'd like to know...
From vendors (answer as many or as few questions as you would like):
Is the analyst world pay-to-play?
If so, do you end up paying for 100% of the time that you get mentioned? 75%? 50%?
What motivates you to do business with an analyst firm?
What value does being an analyst firm's customer bring to your company?
What are the differences you see between the analyst firms and what made you choose to do business with one analyst firm vs. another?
Have you been mentioned in analyst firm's reports WITHOUT paying?
If so, how do you think the analyst firm heard of your company?
From practitioners:
Has an analyst firm ever influenced a buying decision in your company?
If so, how?
From analysts:
What's your story? How do you learn about the companies that you cover?
I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone has to say!
To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com
posted by Charles Dominick, SPSM @ 3:11 PM
4 comments
Subscribe and get new posts by email
Post to del.icio.us
4 Comments:
Hmmm...no takers on the invitation to comment. That only raises my suspicions that the analyst world isn't quite above board.
Your questions are not answerable as phrased. As a vendor we don't buy analyst reports, so how do we know if we are mentioned? We're not an analyst customer, so how do we know if it's pay for play? Nevertheless, we do know that from time to time we have received positive mention both in writing and in verbal recommendations to analyst clients.
It isn't black or white. If you pay for face time, the analyst knows you and is more likely to mention you. Same with blog sponsors -- does the blogger know more about a sponsor than he knows about XYZ company? Chances are, yes.
As I mentioned over on the doctor’s blog, our company has never paid a dime to be mentioned in an analysts report. That being said, we have only ever been mentioned by Gartner (on two occasions), and it took 16 years of being in business before we were noticed. I believe your suspicions are correct that it is a pay to play world, with the exception of Gartner.
Although I dislike the pay to play model for Analyst firms, it is not much different in print media or the many blogs that are out there. Try getting a feature piece in Supply and Demand Chain Exec or Purchasing mag without paying heavy advertising dollars, it is not going to happen often. Try to get a news release covered by a blogger (who you are not paying), and with the exception of a rare few, there will always be some sort of negative slant at the end of their review.
However, we definitely see value in being included in an analyst’s report. If nothing else, it lends credibility to what you are doing, and the average subscriber to a research report tends to put a lot of faith in those reports (for better or worse).
Thanks for your insight, William. I'm definitely digging into this further and hearing your input is helpful.
Post a Comment
<< Home