I agree completely with the insightful column James Coates wrote on the value of technology analysts (Business.Technology, Dec. 1). These firms (Gartner/Dataquest, the Yankee Group, Forrester Research, et al.) do not have experience applying technologies to real business problems. Until you fight it out with various products in the trenches of systems integration, advice is simply someone’s opinion (educated or otherwise).
As a technology consultant involved in procuring and deploying solutions, I am proud that clients call on us, too, for advice. In Chicago (where everyone who ever took early retirement from Ameritech calls himself a consultant/adviser), there are many professionals who can help our leading companies avoid the situation where the blind are leading the blind. The problem is, finding them is difficult and time-consuming, so many companies simply choose to subscribe to ivory tower services.
Those buyers of technology who find pragmatic, experienced, business-savvy advice among the real consultants in our market also find real value. It is worth the search.
