SI Research Process

Security Incite systematically examines the constant and dynamic change in the threatscape, focusing on the products, architectures, and processes that can be brought to bear to address those threats.

Our research process identifies the key issues that end users need to worry about by constantly talking with members of the Incite Network, VARs and vendors.

SI’s secret weapon is the Incite Network, a group of credentialed information security professionals that we “deputize” to be our eyes and ears on the front line of the battle against hackers and fraudsters.

How we research our reports

• Define set of potential research topics
• Our community determines which research topics will provide the most value, which guides the reports that get the “green light.”
• Start with a hypothesis, which allows us to come to terms with our pre-conceived notions and gives us a place to start as we undertake our research. Just because we have a hypothesis, doesn’t mean that it’s right.
• Our rigorous research approach starts with a survey that we send to the Incite Network. We’ll follow up on interesting submittals and dig a bit deeper through ad hoc requests. We are constantly testing the hypothesis and refining our positions with every interaction and conversation. We follow what our sources and the data tell us.
• Once we finish our research, we prepare selection criteria to make sure we are clear about what is important (and our subscribers know what they should be asking for) and make projections about where we think the market is going.
• Discussing our positions with the vendor community is the last step. Historically some vendors are happy with our positions and some not so much. The vendors validate what we’ve already discovered and usually provide some additional perspectives. The most useful discussions happen when the vendor disagrees with our positions, as that allows us to test our research and make sure that our “incites” will stand up against industry review.
• Finally as a value add, we profile the key vendors participating in the industry sector we are researching. If we’ve gotten tidbits from the Incite Network about what is good or what is bad about a specific vendor, we share that as well.