When James and I founded RedMonk five and a half years ago, neither he nor I could have possibly anticipated the direction that the business would take. Even if we’d known, we probably would have disagreed on the implications, as is our custom.
What we agreed on then and now, however, are the ideals that RedMonk represents. RedMonk values independence over subservience, transparency over secrecy, and openness over paywalls. Who would have thought that such an idealistic beginning would see us here all these years later?
And yet we made it to our fifth birthday, and today we discovered that we’d been rated by 116 industry analyst professionals as #4 on a list of Analyst Firms of the Year (out of 103 shops total), behind the slightly better heeled Forrester, Gartner and IDC. Moreover, when the focus was narrowed to the US market, we placed third behind only Forrester and Gartner. For a three – excuse me, four – person firm, that’s not bad, not bad at all.
How did we accomplish this? Through some stellar efforts on the parts of my colleagues. James achieved a startling #3 ranking of all analysts worldwide, while Cote placed third in a list of US Analysts of the Year. Someone asked me today if I was upset that I personally was shut out of the awards, and I honestly laughed: as long as the AR professionals like some of us, I’m happy. And I couldn’t be more pleased to see the wonderful work of my colleagues rewarded. I promise to try and not let down the team next year, gents 😉
But as much as I’m proud of the work that we do, as I told one individual who wrote in to congratulate us today, the recognition is as much a reflection of our community as it is of ourselves. We could not and would not be here without the support of our clients and our community. We’re still here because of all of you, and whatever success we have had is because of you.
We haven’t and won’t forget that.
If I were a competitor looking to critique the survey, I would probably start with the sample size, but as the old saying goes, whatever the competition, it’s better to do well than not.
What does the future hold for RedMonk? Hopefully a number one slot, somewhere. But we also think that the changes we’ve been able to help push in this industry with your help are just the beginning. So stay tuned, there’s more disruption to come.
On behalf of everyone at RedMonk, thank you. We couldn’t do this without you.
