Vendor Comparison Research Methodology - Info-Tech Research
Vendor Comparison Research Methodology - Info-Tech Research
Vendor Comparison Research Methodology - Info-Tech Research
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Proud to be the trusted source of quality IT researchfor 21,000+ IT professionals worldwideQuick Links<strong>Vendor</strong> <strong>Comparison</strong><strong>Research</strong> <strong>Methodology</strong>1. Introduction2. Summary3. Choosing the ProductCategories: The <strong>Research</strong>Agenda4. The Product is Our Focus5. Selecting the Productsfor Evaluation6. Doing the <strong>Research</strong>7. The Product Index8. The <strong>Vendor</strong> Index9. Displaying theProduct <strong>Comparison</strong>- The Decision Diamond10. The Product Evaluation Notes11. Conclusion<strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong> <strong>Research</strong> Group1.888.670.8889 (North America)00.1.519.432.3550 (International)www.infotech.com
1. Introduction<strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong> <strong>Research</strong> Group’s Decision Diamond vendorrecognition program is based on a rigorous review processdesigned to ensure impartiality and fairness. The followingoutlines the research process and how outcomes of theDecision Diamond are determined.The Decision Diamond program recognizes vendors who areoutstanding in providing quality products and services to theirclients, and helps enterprise IT decision-makers create a short listof vendors for consideration in implementing IT programs.The Decision Diamond assessment framework includes:• Leaders: top ranked vendors inthe Decision Diamond• Competitors: second-rankedvendor category in theDecision Diamond• Followers: vendors whoseofferings are worthy of considerationbut which do not lead in theparticular category.Decision Diamond Leaders and Competitors will be announcedboth on the <strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong> website www.infotech.com/vendors andin writing to each award recipient as studies are completed.Award winners receive an Executive Summary of the report.They are also provided with a digital award logo to place ontheir Web site, on all employee email signatures, in marketingmaterials etc. and are encouraged to issue a press releaseannouncing their achievement. <strong>Vendor</strong>s in the Leader categoryalso receive a physical award for display. The full Product<strong>Comparison</strong> report and related Product Evaluation reportson each individual vendor reviewed in the Decision Diamondprocess are available for purchase.Topics for upcoming Product <strong>Comparison</strong> notes for the nexttwo topic areas will be posted on the Web site. <strong>Vendor</strong>s arewelcome to request a briefing, but <strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong> <strong>Research</strong> Groupreserves the right to determine which vendors will haveone-on-one briefings with our research analysts based onresearch requirements.The research process for assessment and comparison follows.<strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong> <strong>Research</strong> Group1.888.670.8889 (North America)00.1.519.432.3550 (International)
2. SummaryOne of the key activities undertaken by <strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong>’s customers,IT management, is to make a decision on a product andvendor prior to the acquisition of a major application, software,hardware or service. The Compare, Evaluate and Selectactivities are reflected as key elements of <strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong>’s IT LifecycleModel, under the general category of Making<strong>Tech</strong>nology Decisions.Connected <strong>Research</strong> Introductionto ImplementationManageForecastImplementOperateSelectImproveIT OperationsMake <strong>Tech</strong>nologyDecisionsLearn Trends& DevelopStrategyUnderstandCompareStrategizeEvaluateThe Compare and the Evaluate notes are part of the ITAPremium service. They provide detailed information on specificproducts and their vendors, allowing the customer to createa short-list of vendors for detailed analysis. The Select noteshelp customers implement good practices for final selection,negotiation and contract agreement with the vendors that theychoose to evaluate in detail.There are well-defined processes for developing the Compareand the Evaluate notes. These include:• Selecting Product Categories: the process of selecting whattypes of software, hardware or services will be researched• Selecting Products: the process of selecting leadingproducts for evaluation• <strong>Research</strong>ing the Products and <strong>Vendor</strong>s: the process ofcollecting up-to-date information about the products andthe vendors being evaluated.• Developing Product and <strong>Vendor</strong> Indices: a consistentprocess for scoring and comparing products and vendors• Developing the Decision Diamond: a visual tool for easycomparison of competing products.<strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong> <strong>Research</strong> Group1.888.670.8889 (North America)00.1.519.432.3550 (International)
3. Choosing the Product CategoriesThe <strong>Research</strong> AgendaThe <strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong> <strong>Research</strong> teams develop an annual <strong>Research</strong>Agenda, revised quarterly, which identifies the specific topicsfor notes to be researched and written for ITA Premiumsubscribers. This <strong>Research</strong> Agenda identifies the types ofproducts to be included in Compare and Evaluate notes.Examples of topics for Compare and Evaluate notes include:• Intrusion Detection Appliances• Storage Area Networks for Mid-sized Enterprises• Wireless LANs• Help Desk Software• Blade Servers• Web Content Management• Application Server Front-Ends• IP PBXs• Server Software for Small Enterprises• Storage Area Networks for Small Enterprises<strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong> <strong>Research</strong> Group1.888.670.8889 (North America)00.1.519.432.3550 (International)
4. The Product is Our FocusCompare and Evaluate notes focus on products that areavailable in a particular category. The strength of the vendorbehind each product is an essential part of the analysis as well.However, the focus in the vendor analysis is on the commitmentof the vendor to the product category under review rather thantheir broader business.<strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong> <strong>Research</strong> Group1.888.670.8889 (North America)00.1.519.432.3550 (International)
5. Selecting the Products for EvaluationOur target for evaluation in a category is no more than 10products. The focus of our evaluation is on products thatare appropriate for our target market. <strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong> creates acomprehensive list of all known vendors in the space, based ona broad analysis of publications, surveys, vendor briefings andinformation collected in analyst calls with clients.A short-list for detailed analysis is developed based on marketpenetration or on innovation. Products are included in theevaluation if they have a material market share in the targetmarket, rather than the overall market, where large enterprisesales skew share. Products that have distinctive features areincluded when <strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong> believes that their technology orfeatures offer potentially meaningful value to enterprises.<strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong> <strong>Research</strong> Group1.888.670.8889 (North America)00.1.519.432.3550 (International)
6. Doing the <strong>Research</strong><strong>Info</strong>rmation about each product is collected in several ways:• Publicly available product information from the vendor(web site, brochures, white papers) describes the featuresof the product• Publicly available corporate information (financial results,size, market share, management changes) provideinformation about the vendor• <strong>Vendor</strong> briefings and interviews provide additionalclarification about aspects of the product and the vendor• Consistent comments in third party reviews and feedbackfrom clients help our assessment of how well a productactually functions after implementation and howwell the vendor provides support.<strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong> <strong>Research</strong> Group1.888.670.8889 (North America)00.1.519.432.3550 (International)
7. The Product IndexEach product is scored in five categories, assessed againstseveral criteria:Product Pricing, based on• Purchase price• Basic support price• Enhanced support price• License terms & conditionsProduct Ease of Use• Ease of setup, admin component• Ease of setup, user component• Ease of use, admin component• Ease of use, user componentProduct Features• Basic/baseline features• Enhanced/differentiation features• Performance/reliability• ScalabilityProduct Support• Baseline support• Enhanced support options• Base warranty• Extended warrantyProduct Architecture• Maturity of architecture• Integration with vendor’s other products• Integration with competitive products• Breadth of supported platformsThe scores for all of the products being assessed are compared.The published Product Index is a measure of the performance ofeach product relative to the group.<strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong> <strong>Research</strong> Group1.888.670.8889 (North America)00.1.519.432.3550 (International)
10. The Product Evaluation NotesIn addition to the <strong>Comparison</strong> note that provides an overviewof all of the products assessed, <strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong> issues individualEvaluation notes for each product to provide more in-depthinformation on that product.<strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong> <strong>Research</strong> Group1.888.670.8889 (North America)00.1.519.432.3550 (International)11
11. Conclusion<strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong> <strong>Research</strong> Group recognizes that our customers needguidance in the selection of software, hardware and IT services.We have positioned Product <strong>Comparison</strong>s and Evaluations askey parts of our ITA premium offering. The objective is to helpour customers make better choices and to make them quickly.The product and associated vendor assessments are carried outin a consistent manner, using a pre-defined set of quantitativescoring criteria. The results are presented to customers in theform of a Decision Diamond that positions all competingproducts according to relative product quality and vendorcapability. Our evaluation notes provide more detail onspecific products.The Decision Diamond AwardThe Decision Diamond recognizes Leaders & Competitors ineach product and solution category. These are the digitalaward logos for vendor promotional purposes.12<strong>Info</strong>-<strong>Tech</strong> <strong>Research</strong> Group1.888.670.8889 (North America)00.1.519.432.3550 (International)
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