We were pleasantly surprised here at MWD by the results of a recent survey by the Institute of Industry Analyst Relations, which surveyed almost 120 analyst relations professionals (for those of you who aren't aware, these are the people that act as our interface with vendors) across the globe.

It won't come as a total shock that we came out of it rather well - why else would I be blogging about it:

• Our most recent recruit, Bola Rotibi, was the number 8 analyst
  
• MWD was similarly ranked in the analyst firm category on a global basis and was number 5 in EMEA
  
• We were the number 5 software analyst firm
  
• We came in at number 8 when it comes to relevance (and number 5 in EMEA)

We're particularly proud of that last one given this from Jonny Bentwood commenting on the results:

One of the interesting results from the survey is the distinction made between relevant and important analyst firms. From my perspective it appears that people made the recognised tier 1’s (Gartner, Forrester, IDC) as the most important as they realise that these companies have a strong impact on sales due to their customer base and research viability. However, relevant firms did not necessarily map on to these same firms and the ones ranked most highly tended to have a greater focus on bespoke advice (largely gained through inquiry time).


When we founded MWD back in February 2005 we set out to differentiate ourselves from the big analyst firms with a very open and flexible approach which allows us to offer tailored advice to our customers. It seems to be paying off.

Obviously, we're really chuffed with this recognition, particularly as it comes from a group of individuals whose job it is to work with analysts on a daily basis.

We're equally pleased that other independent analysts did so well, particularly our business partners over at Freeform Dynamics and RedMonk.