SESSION ID: MASH1-F03 You'll Be Shocked When You See These 10 Tips from Former Industry Analysts! John Pescatore Greg Young Director, Emerging Security Trends SANS Institute jpescatore@sans.org Vice President Trend Micro @OrangeKlaxon #RSAC #RSAC NSA, US Secret Service GTE IDC Trusted Information Systems Entrust Gartner SANS Military Counter-Int, C&A Dept of Communications Consulting Product Companies AMS Gartner Trend Micro Cybersecurity Industry Analyst Landscape SOC (Useful) Analysts Financial Analysts Industry Analysts – the focus here today – Forrester/Gartner/IDC – Any other meaningful: one man shops, boutiques We are focusing on enterprise use of analyst, not vendor use #RSAC 1. Use Them For What They Are Good For, Not What They Are Good At #RSAC 2. Choose Analysts the Way You Choose Movie/Restaurant Reviewers #RSAC 3. Analysis vs Validation vs Advice #RSAC 4. Predictions: Should, Could or Will Happen? Crazy Sh$t? #RSAC 5. Surveys: Big N, Little N, How Funded/Bias #RSAC 6. Buying Stuff: Magical Squares & Forest of Waves #RSAC 7. When An Analyst Leaves to Join A Vendor #RSAC 8. If You have INQUIRY Rights, Use ‘Em #RSAC 9. Document & Contract Review Services #RSAC 10. Avoiding Clickbait and Made Up Stuff #RSAC #RSAC 11. Last Advice… If they don’t cover your market If you don’t use but your boss does #RSAC Summary ENTERPRISES Make confirmation bias your last resort  Use inquiries, ask for analyst by name  “What has worked for others like me?”  Much is useful, nothing is magic or tsunami-ish  VENDORS  Build great products, incent users to rate you with analysts  Ask how many user inquires per week the analyst does.  “Do you think users need this feature/enhancement”  Vendor briefings are free – don’t waste their time, though. Key Take-ways to Apply When You Get Back to Work – Enterprise Users If your company has an analyst service, find out how to use it – especially the inquiry and contract review services. What area could knowledge of what has worked for others help you? Are you looking for analysis, validation or advice? Pick the right analyst. Look for freebies nearing contract renewal. 16 #RSAC Key Take-ways to Apply When You Get Back to Work Vendors Any position in a market document is better than not appearing at all. A good vendor briefing is free and more effective than expensive “capture the analyst for a day” sessions. Use the analyst firms mostly to learn what they are hearing, not what they think. Pick the right analyst. Moderated user input sessions are hugely valuable. 17 #RSAC