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November 15, 1999

Analyzing The Analysts:
Vendor-Oriented: Aberdeen, Summit, And Zona

ot all analyst firms are created equal. Besides the obvious disparities in revenue and resources, some analyst firms specialize in certain technology areas, such as the Internet or enterprise applications; others offer special services, such as conferences and training.

Most analyst firms do work at one time or another for technology vendors, helping them with marketing strategies and product development. But some, such as Aberdeen Group, Summit Strategies, and Zona Research, specialize in that kind of work.

Less than one-half of 1% of Aberdeen's Group's revenue is derived from services sold to user companies, which includes the very occasional custom research project, says Tom Willmott, Aberdeen Group's president and CEO. For vendors, the firm's services include field sales-force training, strategy consulting for upcoming products or marketing initiatives, and user surveys. Aberdeen Group sells its marketing consulting services to emerging technology supplier startups as well as traditional vendors that are entering emerging technology areas, such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Sun Microsystems, says Willmott.

Like Aberdeen Group, Zona Research sells its research and services to vendors selling their technology to end users. Zona provides "fact-based opinions on the market impact of Internet technologies," says David Jose, the firm's managing director. Zona's clients include software, hardware, telecommunications, and infrastructure companies and "anyone else who is building the Internet," Jose says.

Although Aberdeen Group sells little of its research to users, CIOs and technology managers often get free access to reports by agreeing to spend time on the phone or in person with the firm's consultants several times a year, a process that assists Aberdeen Group in gathering the user insights it provides to vendors. Vendors are also known to pass on Aberdeen Group white papers to customers. However, Willmott says, the decision for vendors to pass on white papers or other Aberdeen Group research material doesn't always come easily. That's because a paying vendor client is promised objectivity and honesty from the firm's consultants--not glowing reviews. Aberdeen Group recently gave one of its vendors "thumbs-down for five out of six of its new marketing initiatives," Willmott says. "Most of our clients compare our analyst sessions to root canals."

Go on to the next story, "Coaching Meta Group To Reinvent Itself."

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