Enterprise architects and the analysts they love

James McGovern suggests that our personal comfort level with abstractions affects our attitudes toward industry research. Some people prefer clean, general concepts. Others prefer to peel the banana — get into the messy physical evidence, deployment intel, etc. — before swallowing analyst conclusions.

That rings true to my experience. It comes up in subtle ways in most conversations with IT folks about sourcing research. For example, I’ve found that the architectural approach that makes Burton Group appealing to one research buyer can be a complete turnoff to another. Likewise, IT people tend to love or hate the Forrester Wave(TM) as decision support for short listing suppliers. Once they’ve made up their minds, it’s hard to convince them to reconsider.

Get another riff on James’ idea from Dave Oliver, who says “keep an open mind and choose your weapons carefully.”