2026 Analyst Engagement survey results
In this white paper, we present our 2026 survey findings from 100+ different tech firms including how they view the impact of AI on Analyst Engagement.
2026 analyst assessment survey: AI and analyst influence. What is changing? What still matters?
AI is now an integral part of how enterprise buyers research markets, compare suppliers and test vendor claims. Analyst influence is not disappearing, but the way buyers use analyst insight, formal assessments and AI-generated answers is clearly starting to shift. In this webinar, we share our findings from our 2026 survey of 100 technology companies. We will examine how your peers see AI affecting analyst engagement, assessment participation and the role of firms such as Gartner, Forrester and IDC.
Analyst Relations ROI: Real Examples Beyond Gartner, Forrester and IDC
In this panel discussion representatives from Everest Group, KuppingerCole and MGI Research talk about real-world examples of business impact, including client cases where specialist insight, different research delivery models or closer working relationships produced the kind of returns that firms might not normally associate with analyst engagement.
Are you over-invested in Gartner… and under-leveraging the boutiques that can actually move the needle?
Many teams default to the “big basket” approach then wonder why they’re missing regional nuance, category-specific depth, or sharper differentiation. In this webinar, we’ll cut through the noise and get practical about when boutique/specialist firms matter, why they matter, and how to engage them effectively – without wasting time or budget.
Where are you on the Analyst Engagement AI maturity curve?
Increasingly GenAI tools are offering the lure of productivity and insight to speed up the submission of analyst-firm assessment surveys and presentations. How fast and far should you go? Gartner has explicitly noticed and warned that GenAI assessment submissions are showing up with lower actual quality and flagrant unsupported assertions and inaccuracies. How can you use GenAI tools effectively within the limits of your resources, experience and available information to get the best results without generating a well-worded fantasy.
What is the secret to moving your dot in a Magic Quadrant or Wave assessment?
In this webinar we discuss the factors that can impact your position on the MQ or Wave grid and give you six top tips to optimize your result.
How to move your dot in a Magic Quadrant or Wave assessment
Download this practical guide to moving your dot as you prepare for the next assessment. It provides you with six tips to help you optimize your result.
Cracking the code of how to master analyst RFI surveys (e.g. MQ, Wave)
Surveys are at the core of every analyst assessment RFI. Often with hundreds of questions and strict response limits, they are essential for achieving meaningful results. So why is it so many companies don’t get the result they expect?
Nail your recorded IT analyst briefings and demos
The requirement by Gartner and others for only recorded briefings and product demos in evaluation submissions has defined a new competitive threat and opportunity. The pressure to deliver in this new way on a compressed schedule alongside all the other elements of an evaluation are too often leading to mediocre, undifferentiating recordings. Revisit how you prepare and tell your story. Striking the right balance between content and production is essential. We will help you plan your time, define and create your content, including tools that will help do it quickly and easily.
Mastering MQs and Waves: Succeeding when the fit isn’t perfect
Here is a little secret. Over two-thirds of companies, who are in MQ and Waves, do not see assessment definitions as being a match to where their business fits into the market! You are not alone. So what can you do about it? This webinar will share the elements needed for a successful campaign.
2024 Analyst Engagement survey results
Every 2 years, The Skills Connection conduct a study looking specifically at how technology providers’ engage with analysts, and what results they get back in terms of real business impact. In this white paper, we present our 2024 survey findings (from 140+ different tech firms) and offer evidence-based advice for improving the impact your business can get from this massively influential channel.
Solving the mystery of how you move up and to the right in a Magic Quadrant or Wave
This webinar will enable you to understand why dots get placed where they do, plan what you need to do overall to change analyst perception of where you should be positioned (before you get a bad draft placement) and respond effectively to a bad draft placement if it does occur.
5 secrets to briefing analysts so they refer business to you
In this webinar, we discuss the common mistakes people make in analyst briefings and set out a best practice framework to help you add value to your presentations.
12 myths about analyst engagement
In this paper we explore the great myths of analyst relations, passed down from generation to generation of AR professionals. As former analysts, we are not only surprised at how often we come across these myths, but how tenaciously people hold on to them. Because they’re all false. Every single one. And they can lead you to focus on the wrong things in your analyst interactions, making those interactions less valuable. Find out how to avoid falling into the traps these myths create!
Hard lessons learned from a life in Analyst Relations
In this webinar we interview Jonathan Yarmis, a veteran of the IT advisory research industry with 37 years of experience, to find out about the hard lessons learned from a unique life on both sides of the table in analyst engagement – as an analyst and in analyst relations!
2024 analyst engagement survey: getting effective business impact from assessment results
Some firms get significant business via analysts (such as Gartner & Forrester), while many simply do not. Why is that? And where are you on the scale? Every 2 years, The Skills Connection conduct a study looking specifically at how technology providers’ engage with analysts, and what results they get back in terms of real business impact. In this webinar, we present our Q1 2024 survey findings (from 140+ different tech firms) and offer evidence-based advice for improving the impact your business can get from this massively influential channel.
Six myths about analyst engagement – part 2
In part 1, we talk about the myths surrounding assessments like the Gartner Magic Quadrant and the Forrester Wave. In part 2, we cover the myths surrounding the rest of your engagement with analysts and how to avoid falling into the traps these myths create.
Six myths about analyst engagement – part 1
In this webinar, the first of two parts, we will address six myths of analyst relations specifically relating to analyst assessments such as the Gartner Magic Quadrant, Forrester Wave and others.
No pay, no play – is that really how it is with analysts like Gartner and Forrester?
If you believe that research is a pay-for-play game, our Managing Director, Simon Levin discusses in this paper why this isn't the case and you can still get results if your analyst engagement is effective.
Why do we do so well on the Magic Quadrant but so badly on the Wave (or vice versa)?
While the Magic Quadrant and the Wave may appear similar on the surface, they differ significantly in structure. Therefore, it’s crucial to tailor your approach when responding to their associated RFIs.
Why PR strategies don’t work when engaging analysts
In this webinar we look at the differing needs between journalists and analysts and offer best practices for what you need to do when engaging analysts.
Secrets to Changing the Analyst’s Mind
Vendors often complain that analysts come to a discussion with outcomes pre-determined and that nothing the vendor says or does will change the analyst’s mind. Are you really facing a Sisyphean task? We don’t think so. We’ve seen vendors achieve significant progress in analyst outcomes by directly confronting those analyst (mis)conceptions. Find out more in this white paper.
AR in the age of AI: how to flourish in the AI-powered future of analysts
In this webinar we look at how AI is changing the landscape of analyst research and analyst relations. This technology brings along both a range of challenges and key opportunities for how suppliers can best engage analysts in the future, as well as what everyone will need to understand about the way the analysts themselves will likely be using this tech to service their customers and generate content.
Featured in a research report? The tricks to turning the result into revenue
In the webinar we cover the serious risks and potential rewards that kick-off on Publication Day. We identify all the stakeholders you need to communicate with and highlight the different collateral each stakeholder will require and when.
The 10 things every company gets wrong with Gartner – and others
Getting key analysts to have sufficient confidence (in your business, products and services) to recommend you to their clients is difficult. It takes concerted effort, appropriate preparation and relevant executive engagement if you are to get it right and get the right result. But the reality is most companies get it wrong and get truly disappointing results. Find out the 10 things NOT to do in this white paper.
Solve the puzzle of how to get great Magic Quadrant / Wave results in 6 easy steps
If you've ever been left puzzled as to why having a great product and contented customers is often not enough for achieving impressive results on Gartner Magic Quadrants, Forrester Waves or other structured assessments, then we have the solution. Our webinar will arm you with six essential steps that support success.
The secrets to changing the analyst’s mind
Vendors often complain that analysts come to an evaluation with outcomes pre-determined and that nothing the vendor says or does will change the analyst’s mind. Are you really facing a Sisyphean task? We don’t think so. Find out what you CAN do.
To create (or not create) a category – how to engage analysts either way
Pretty much every day we have a conversation with a company about whether, and how, to best work with analysts like Gartner, Forrester etc. to help establish a new category in the market. Can it be done? And if so, what is the right approach to follow?
Analyst RFI portals: The gift that keeps on taking
Gartner, IDC and other analyst firms are increasingly shifting their vendor data collection for assessments (like Magic Quadrants, MarketScapes and Waves) from spreadsheets and other documentation to structured Web portals. Ostensibly meant to streamline and standardize the data collection process, the result is a major upheaval in your response process, the detail and perspective you can provide and ultimately the predictability of your Magic Quadrant, MarketScape or Wave position. In this webinar we examine the impacts, how you get ready and the changes in analyst engagement best practices.
Lessons Learned: What differentiates startups that scale versus startups that fail
90% of tech startups fail. It’s a fact. 75% that are VC-funded fail. That’s also a fact. What differentiates the scaling successes from failures, we have found from firsthand experience, is adhering to a simple formula. It’s a formula of alignment. Find out more in this on-demand webinar.
How some companies make analysts an effective GTM channel
Some firms get significant business via analysts (such as Gartner & Forrester), while many simply do not. Why is that? And where are you on the scale? Every 2 years, The Skills Connection conduct a study looking specifically at how technology providers’ engage with analysts, and what results they get back in terms of real business impact. In this webinar, we'll share our findings and give 5 best practices you can implements straight away.
10 dos and don’ts to get the right score for a Critical Capabilities assessment
Are you mystified why you got the Critical Capabilities score in a recent assessment? Do you find Gartner’s Critical Capabilities unclear, complicated, frustrating and annoying? Find out the 10 things you should be doing and not doing for this important assessment.
The 10 things every company gets wrong with Gartner – and others
Getting key analysts to have sufficient confidence (in your business, products and services) to recommend you to their clients is difficult. It takes concerted effort, appropriate preparation and relevant executive engagement if you are to get it right and get the right result. But the reality is most companies get it wrong and get truly disappointing results.
Gartner Peer Insights – how do you compare to your competition?
Gartner Peer Insights is one of the most significant shifts to the way vendor performance is measured and assessed. With over 2.3 million product comparisons conducted on the platform in 2020, an increase of 15% over the previous year, its significance is on the rise. Gartner analysts now depend wholly on Peer Insights as a primary source of customer insight when carrying out assessments, and buyers themselves increasingly turn to Peer Insights when making informed decisions.
Gartner Peer Insights: 5 things you must do right – right now
This white paper looks at what vendors should be doing here and now to build their Peer Insights profiles and make the most of their customers’ positive views of their products and services.
Gartner Peer Insights: 5 things you must do right now
Recent changes at Gartner have increased the importance of proactive Peer Insights activity for vendors; Gartner has replaced Magic Quadrant reference surveys with information sourced from Peer Insights, and Gartner has developed new document types that summarize Peer Insights reviews and perspectives for end-user customers. This is a new muscle that technology vendors and service providers must learn to exercise regularly – you ignore it at your peril.
The 5 top ways to use Gartner and other analysts to grow pipeline
What Gartner and other analyst firms think about you matters… much more than you can ever imagine. This is because analysts have incredible reach, touching thousands of your prospects each year. Analysts inform your buyers throughout your sales cycle, advising them on what to do, who to do it with and even how much to pay.
Great MQ! Now what?
There is plenty of work to be done in the wake of a positive analyst report – and most of it needs to be done quickly! Find out more in our white paper.
How can you use analysts like Gartner to drive revenue – without the need to re-mortgage your house?
2020 has been a year like no other, and 2021 will start in much the same way. Traditional marketing activities like conferences, user events and seminars have evaporated. Buyers meantime have significantly upped their use of analysts as a way of researching markets, with buyer inquiries to analysts up by as much as 50%. Analysts are talking to your prospects about their needs, outlining the market of possible solutions and sharing their opinion of who to consider. The question is how can you make this unique channel part of your go-to-market program for 2021 and what would it cost?
‘PressandAnalyst’ is not one word
In this white paper, you can find out what the analysts need from you differs from the press and learn actionable differences between an analyst engagement (AE) plan and a PR plan.
The secret of getting into a Magic Quadrant or Wave
Getting into a Gartner Magic Quadrant (MQ) or a Forrester Wave is a big deal for many companies, the actions that vendors need to take differ depending on the circumstance. If you are a new vendor trying to be recognized in a market, if you are established in one market and trying to expand into others, or if the inclusion criteria for your MQ or Wave seem to change regularly, there are proactive steps you can take to ensure that your company and products are represented in the best possible light.
If I drink the poison, will the Gartner (or Forrester) analyst die?
In business, you can often walk away from a bad deal, a shocking provider and an awful customer. But if it's your Gartner (or name your most important advisory research firm here) lead analyst who irks you, there are compelling reasons to hold your nerve and stick around.
Our 2020 Analyst Assessment Survey Results
In this report, we present our 2020 survey findings and offer evidence-based advice for improving your Magic Quadrant and Wave submissions.
Do the analysts really still call the shots?
In these days of online peer reviews and social media, increasingly enterprise IT review sites like TrustRadius & G2 are changing how buyers research vendors. So, do the analysts still influence where the money goes?
2020 Analyst Assessment Survey Results: The Secrets of How to Win
In this webinar, we present our 2020 primary research findings aimed at understanding technology providers’ attitudes to participating in assessments such as Gartner’s Magic Quadrant (MQ) or Forrester’s Wave.
Why buyers will rely far more on analysts in the age of COVID-19. An action plan
In this webinar, we explore how COVID-19 is affecting technology marketing, where in the buying cycle analyst influence is increasing, and what actions you need to take as a result.
What should you do if your Magic Quadrant or Wave is retired?
When an MQ or Wave is retired, the interest in that category does not suddenly evaporate. Clients are no less interested in understanding about the players in the market and how they compare. The key difference is that now they cannot simply refer to a document – the MQ or Wave report. Now, they need to speak with the analyst. Your task is to make sure that the analyst still conceptually positions you at least as well as before (and ideally better) to ensure you get a good pipeline of referred business.
The credibility conundrum
Discover our start-ups guide for working with analysts.
Are you “cool” and why does it matter?
Many start-ups are both highly innovative and highly disruptive. How can you make sure massively influential analysts, like Gartner or Forrester, recognize your innovation and potential breakthrough?
How the analysts can boost your sales pipeline: Insider secrets
This white paper highlights how leading firms leverage analyst engagement to grow their sales pipeline. We cover the best practices for developing genuine relationships with analysts for mutual benefit.