Top 3 ways to use Analyst Reports to your full advantage

Most developers do not have a seat holder license with an industry analyst firm. That doesn’t mean that you can’t and shouldn’t get your hands on analyst reports and use them to your advantage. After we look at a few of the ways you can use them, I will give you some tips on scoring them for free.

1. Analyst firms provide a good linkage between technology capabilities and higher-level business objectives

Ever wonder how to get that new tool you want to be funded? The key is to link it to an initiative in your company that is getting funded. Your justification needs to talk about the outcomes of that initiative and how your new tool can impact those.

You know that APIs are the building blocks for digital business projects, but how does that new CI/CD process help get those business projects across the line quicker, or more predictably?

Or how do microservices enable a project to scale more reliably when it takes off? The verbiage and logic you need are in analyst reports, waiting to be “repurposed” by you.

2. Make quick work of short-listing the vendors you should look at for a new solution

You probably have a good idea of what capability you are looking to add to your stack and have an idea of who you want to source it from. But you must show due diligence and look at other options.

The industry analyst makes this easier for you by producing regular comparisons called Magic Quadrants, Waves, etc., produced by key solution categories (i.e., API Management). They can even give you the relative strengths and weaknesses of each vendor and their offerings, and open your eyes to new vendors you may not have considered.

3. Learn about emerging technologies that will be key to your future success

Do you need to pay attention to Event-Driven Architectures for APIs or GraphQL? What impact will Machine Learning have on APIs? The answers to these questions can be gleaned from analyst reports. They can also give you an idea of who are leaders or laggards in each of these capabilities.

This can help you formulate new ideas, identify where you need to learn more, and maybe even start evaluation projects in areas that interest you. Building your job skills is key to advancing in your current role or finding your next job.

So how do you get your hands on these key complimentary analyst reports? Go to the analyst firms’ sites and search for things like “API Wave” or “API Magic Quadrant.”

Each analyst has different criteria they score vendors against. While some vendors may score well in one analyst ranking, they may be average in another. To ensure you work with a well-rounded vendor that scores consistently well against all criteria, look at a combination of analyst reports.

Once you have the report name, search that name in your favorite search engine. Surprise! Several vendors highlighted in the reports have purchased ads to provide you complimentary access to the report. All you must do is provide your contact information.

So, what are you waiting for? Read a report and start making it work for you today.