The Skills Connection Reviews & Provider Details

The Skills Connection is an analyst relations consultancy founded in 2009. Its team of former senior Gartner analysts has a combined 145 years of direct Gartner experience and has worked with more than 650 technology vendors on analyst engagement including assessments such as the Gartner Magic Quadrant and the Forrester Wave. The firm is headquartered in Roslyn, New York, with an office in High Wycombe, United Kingdom. We have an NPS score of +83. Other analyst relations firms advise vendors on how to speak to analysts and to facilitate these meetings. We were the analysts. We wrote Magic Quadrants, one of our team invented The Hype Cycle, others helped develop the methodologies for IDC MarketScapes, FutureScapes and MaturityScapes. We scored vendor submissions, sat in review sessions, fielded inquiry calls from enterprise buyers, and decided which vendors deserved to be shortlisted and why. That institutional knowledge does not come from reading Gartner's published methodology. It comes from having lived it for decades. Since 2009, we have worked with more than 650 technology firms across the full spectrum of analyst assessments (e.g. Magic Quadrant, Wave, MarketScape, Leadership Compass, Peak Matrix, SPARK Matrix), engagement programs and go-to-market positioning challenges. Our clients range from early-stage SaaS companies engaging analysts for the first time to large enterprises defending a hard-won Leaders’ position. THE TEAM The depth of the team’s knowledge and experience is what makes The Skills Connection genuinely unique. This is not a one-person boutique or a rebranded PR agency with an analyst relations practice grafted on. Delivery is all done by senior, former analysts. Details of all the team members can be found at https://theskillsconnection.com/who-we-are/ WHAT WE DO FOR ANALYST ENGAGEMENT Analyst Assessment Services We are best known for preparing technology vendors for Gartner Magic Quadrant (MQ), Gartner Emerging Market Quadrant (EMQ), Gartner Startups Market Quadrant (SMQ), Forrester Wave, IDC MarketScape, and other structured analyst assessments. 1. We work with your subject matter experts (SMEs) to collectively identify the case to present and to identify and collate all the relevant evidence 2. Together we co-create the response materials set to reflect that case. We define structures and priorities, we identify key content for inclusion and the focus required, we review every aspect of the work in progress for the detailed content and structure. 3. We manage the process using our proven methodologies, and associated assets, for surveys, briefings, demos and customer feedback (e.g. references, Gartner Peer Insights) 4. At the draft review stage, we collaborate on both written and presented responses and, if required, orchestrate the content and processes required for content or process escalation 5. Finally, we provide guidance on how to turn research outcomes into real business outcomes (i.e. pipeline building and competitive wins) Our 2026 survey of over 100 vendors found that 90% of vendors find analyst criteria do not precisely align with their solution. Being a perfect fit is the exception. Knowing how to present your real capabilities compellingly within a complex assessment framework is the skill we have spent 17 years developing and delivering to clients. These are project-based activities following our proven Tune-Up methodology. 84% of clients, who engaged us to improve their assessment rating, report that we helped them to shift positively in their Magic Quadrant or Wave. Analyst Engagement Strategy Assessments are periodic. Analyst influence on your enterprise pipeline is continuous. Enterprise buyers talk to analysts through inquiry calls throughout their lifecycle of interest with any technology, often before a formal RFP has even been issued. If analysts don't understand your story, don't trust your evidence, and can't articulate your differentiation, your name may never reach the buyer. 1. We start with a deep dive into your business and relevant solutions. Using the information structure analysts use, we build up an understanding of your situation, goals and plans. Our proprietary analyst engagement assessment allows for us to collectively explore where the most urgent gaps are and prioritize actions 2. Our living annual plan is designed to align business and analyst goals and then set out a suitable collaborative program of work to deliver against those goals. The plan will include who to target, activity planning, evidence planning and goal alignment. 3. Together we plan out all the engagement activities throughout the year and, once again using our skills as experienced analysts, engage with all the relevant SMEs in your company, as well as analyst relations resources, to build out the right content for results 4. Whether its regular briefings, analyst news sheets, advisory sessions, demos, ad hoc communications (e.g. via email, social media posts) we work to co-create every piece of required content, review and stress test the content and its delivery 5. The analyst on the inside (i.e. our analyst on your team) will ensure execution of the plan through regular engagement and then facilitate a year-end assessment to identify future priorities for action For newer technology initiatives this can also lead to getting recognition from the likes of Gartner as a Cool Vendor or IDC as an IDC Innovator – both extremely valuable sources of trusted, third-party validation. 97% of our customers say that they would recommend The Skills Connection (and often do). COMMON QUESTIONS Do you only support Gartner Magic Quadrants? No. We support clients with assessments from across the analyst spectrum Do you only support assessment work? Not at all. Most of our clients work with us year-round on effective engagement with analysts. Assessments are often a part of that, whether Cool Vendor, SMQ/EMQ or full MQ, Wave etc. Why The Skills Connection versus an AR or PR agency Our focus is the story you tell and the evidence to tell it. Our senior analysts immerse themselves in your business and solution and have the credibility with your executives and SMEs to build that story and align messaging from across your organization What will the process demand from us? Effective engagement needs product, customer success, marketing and leadership input. The essential elements are the story and associated evidence, which we help you identify, construct, collate and orchestrate to get true ROI from your analyst engagement Do you work alongside existing AR teams? We work alongside AR teams and other AR agencies in a number of our clients. These AR professionals typically have strong relationships and institutional knowledge. What we bring is the analyst-side perspective and skillset to help assemble the right content to move the needle. WHY THE SKILLS CONNECTION IS DIFFERENT It’s simply that we are a team of former senior analysts and research executives with an average tenure of 11.5 years at Gartner alone, and over 16 years across different analyst firms. We have robust and proven processes, but for us these are table stakes. We focus on content using senior, experienced analysts who understand your technology, solutions and vision and know exactly how to root out the right information and take that insight and communicate it effectively to the analyst channel to drive real impact and measurable results.