Who you gonna call?
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The choice of where a CIO can go for insider advice is shrinking with the acquisition of analyst house Meta Group by its larger rival Gartner.
Independent, informed, authoritative - the sort of qualities we all look for when getting advice. But the choice of where the CIO can go for that insider advice is shrinking fast.
One of the causes is the acquisition of analyst company Meta Group by larger rival Gartner, which cuts the field significantly. Following on from Forrester Research's acquisition of Giga, the deal, in effect, leaves three big players dominating the field: Gartner, Forrester and IDC.
Meta itself had built its business on the theory of triangulation: of course many businesses will go to the big analyst houses for advice, but they'll never just trust one source - a range of opinions should help business leaders check the validity of the opinions, ensuring the company strategy does not head down the wrong path, after all, analysts are on occasion, fallible.
So as the complexity of the IT landscape continues to increase, the number of sources to help the CIO set company strategy shrinks? Well, not quite. While the large, comprehensive analyst houses are gradually conglomerating - and it suits the theory of advice triangulation to only have three sources of information - a different breed of 'boutique' firms is flourishing.
These firms, including Ovum, RedMonk, AMR Research, Nucleus Consulting and Canalys have built business value by offering depth on select industry areas. But all of this leaves CIOs faced with a dilemma: How to marry the need for an overall IT strategy when faced with limited sources of comprehensive advice or a multitude of highly specialised views?
