IT Industry Analysts: A Review and Two Research Agendas

Abstract

The firms involved in analyzing the information technology industry (IT), such as Gartner, Forrester, and IDC, are reputed to have a major impact on both IT vendors and IT adopters through their influence over how IT actually is acquired and used. The purpose of this article is to take stock of the nascent stream of research on industry analysts that has developed in recent years in order to shed some light on the IT analysis industry-to analyze the IT industry analysts, if you will. Using an organizational field-level lens, we look at the business models of the firms that operate in this industry. We examine the main institutional work that the analysts in these firms perform as status arbiters, institutional carriers, network brokers, IT fashion setters, and knowledge entrepreneurs. We examine the competitive and institutional pressures faced by analysts in these firms. Finally, we propose two research agendas: (1) to study the impact that this industry has had, and could continue to have, on the IT industry as a whole, and (2) to study how the relationship between the academic information systems community and the IT analysis industry might co-evolve.

Conforming or transforming? How organizations respond to multiple rankings

“…The main groups producing rankings in this area are known as 'industry analysts'. Bernard and Gallupe (2013) have highlighted the diversity within what they call the 'IT industry analyst sector'. This currently comprises: a handful of very large ranking organisations (notably 'the Big Three' of Gartner, Forrester and IDC); a modest number of smaller firms (such as Aberdeen, GigaOM, Ovum, Yankee Group, including various industry specialist organisations); and "hundreds of boutique firms" (very small organisations and individuals) (Dennington and Leforestier 2013: 6).…”

“…The number of rankings in this sector has continued to grow because of social media technologies which have lowered the barriers to entry (Bernard and Gallupe 2013). One industry database suggests a shift from around 100 industry analyst firms just a decade or two ago to something closer to 700 today.…”

“…Some went further still. As noted earlier, there has been a marked increase in the number of analyst firms in the last few years (Bernard and Gallupe 2013). An important stimulus for this growth has been the IT vendors themselves who sought to encourage and sustain the presence of more rankers.…”

Responding to Three Issues in Hassan (2014)

“…I can't remember when I've seen a paper on applying metrics within the firm in a leading IS journal. Perhaps this is a topic best left for the consultants who can help each firm resolve its own key performance indicators and tailor custom solutions [Bernard and Gallupe, 2013]. We do have a stream of IS personnel issues in top journals that deal with matters like career paths [Joseph et al, 2012] and the effectiveness of Human Resource (HR) programs for IS personnel [Ferratt, Prasad, Enns, 2012].…”

Industry analysts – how to conceptualise the distinctive new forms of IT market expertise?

“…This paper examines the emergence of a distinctive new form of expert labourindustry analysts who provide research for enterprise technology buyers and producers. Over the last three decades they appear to have gained considerable influence over the Information Technology (IT) market (Bernard and Gallupe, 2013;Pollock and Williams, 2016, in press). Industry analyst research is read and acted on by Chief Information Officers planning organisational IT strategies, IT procurement teams choosing between multi-million pound workplace IT solutions, and company managers and employees wanting to learn more about the potential benefits of digital technologies for their business (Firth and Swanson, 2005;Burks, 2006).…”