Profiling analysts Forrester-style

I read a lot of spy novels. Why? Because I'm not smart enough to really understand good science fiction, I find most non-fiction boring, and I really enjoy the mystery, intrigue and strategy of many of these thrillers. Being exposed to interesting techniques for spycraft and violence also lets me indulge those interests without risking bodily harm or jail time.

One of the most fascinating characters is the double agent. Someone who can play both sides against the middle. Of course, the mere presence of the CONCEPT of a double agent makes you scrutinize and question the intelligence that you get from every source.

I'm sure you're wondering what I'm talking about by now. I just saw about the availability of a new Forrester report (yours for the bargain basement price of $249) here that attempts to help AR professionals profile analysts. That's kind of interesting. I know there are some former analysts (like KCG) that help to advise on AR. But a practicing analyst telling other folks how to deal with analysts? Is this a double agent at work?

They categorize analysts into three buckets: advocates, product strategists, and evangelists. Now I'm really confused. How can any good analyst not be all three of those? Now, to be clear, I haven't read the report - so I could be talking out of my ass. But speculation is fun, so let's play a bit more.

Good analysts need to be advocates. We are working on behalf of someone, preferably an end user. What value does an analyst provide that cannot weigh in and provide opinion about strategy? And analysts are always evangelizing whatever it is they are working on. If they don't have some big idea, what's the use?

What am I missing here? Folks that are only evangelists tend to be viewed as whores (here). Those that can only do strategizing are product management consultants, not analysts.

Ross Brown of eEye did a nice piece about different kind of analysts here. That's much better. I also profiled contrarians (here) because I think the best analysts have many of these traits. Clearly there was some double agentry going on when I wrote the piece. By giving you a feel for the kinds of analysts I see out there, I'm hopeful that you'll get a better perspective on what I'm trying to do and how it's best to deal with me.

But the point of this post is that I'm not sure Forrester or even I am best suited to profile analysts. We are all "unique." HA. That's a laugh.