Analyst 2.0 - I Like That Term - Thanks Andy

I had to smile when I saw this post from Andy Abramson this morning.

The topic was about Yankee Group laying off 20 analysts, which is not a good news story, but Andy captured the essence of what it really means. I wasn't aware of the news as I don't have that much day-to-day contact with the U.S. analyst community. For the most part, indies like me are invisible to these firms, but at times like this, I'm happy to be in my shoes rather than theirs.

As Andy notes, the economics of traditional analyst firms are becoming undone by the very technology they make their money analyzing - in much the same way as traditional media such as newspapers. It's becoming increasingly difficult to place a value on information, especially when it has a shelf life of about a day, and I don't how you can make money these days purely being in the information business.

The real money is made turning that information into knowledege and insight, and that's what analysts get well-paid to do. However, the business model around selling big, printed reports that take 6 months to produce has become outmoded, and as the value of information shifts to how up-to-the-minute it is - as opposed to being more strategic and reflective, i.e. less time-sensitive - analysts are becoming expensive overhead rather than revenue generators and value creators.

In short, some of the most useful information/knowledge/insight comes for free and comes from blogs. Even though analyst firms have embraced blogs, you still have to sell something at the end of the day. It's a challenge we all face, but these tools allow indies like me to compete successfully against these big firms.

So, thanks very much Andy, for connecting the dots and turning a blip of a story about Yankee into a more interesting Web 2.0-style piece about analysts. Yup, I agree, he's talking about Analyst 2.0, and I'm very glad to see Andy include me in his list of indies at the vanguard who are personfying this new breed. And to return the favor, I will unabashedly say that Andy's agency, Comunicano (that's 1 "m" folks, not 2) is truly PR 2.0, and is great model for that space to be following.

Signing off for now - happy Labor/Labour Day!

Am tempted to post about Obamania after last night - too busy for now. Any good blogs/posts about this out there?


Technorati tags: Yankee Group, Andy Abramson, Jon Arnold, industry analyst