Congratulations to our friends at the Black Book of Outsourcing, who have been rewarded for their years of entertaining us with a nice little buy-out by British research firm Datamonitor, which also owns boutique outsourcing advisor Orbys.
It speaks volumes for the Brown-Wilson group
that the leading outsourcing research firm (Source: The 2009 Black Book of Outsourcing "Top Advisors and Consulting Firms") chose to integrate them into their operation:
To quote Mark Meek, Chief Executive of Datamonitor, "I am thrilled to be announcing this acquisition which is exactly in line with our international growth strategy. The Black Book of Outsourcing is a world-leading brand, with a reputation for independent research and a first-class client list. This acquisition provides excellent synergies and strengthens Datamonitor’s position as a key provider of sourcing research and advice, at the critical juncture between vendors and buyers. The counter-cyclical nature of sourcing means it is an excellent acquisition for the Group at this time."
Posted in : Confusing Outsourcing Information, Outsourcing Advisors
Phil, just be happy AMR wasn’t the one “voted” number one, then you might have been forced to buy them.
Maybe there will finally now be some veracity and credibility to their content. DM will force some discipline to the survey and ranking approaches, right?
All cynicisms aside, it makes strategic sense that Black Book sold to the #1 ranked general market researcher instead of a lower ranked outsourcing or tech researcher or even the a #1 ranked advisor.
Like them or not – anyone who has tried to create a business from the ground up can’t help admire their ability to have established a world-recognized brand from scratch despite all the obstacles and critics. Sure, they have had their growing pains but how many can truly say they could drive such an entrepreneurial journey and succeeded, particularly in these very tough economic times.
Mike – you sound suspiciously like one of the Black Book guys…
Seriously, I tip my hat to the BBoO – for a couple of guys and a computer, this is a fantastic achievement for them. Quite what Datamonitor is going to do in the “rankings game” is yet to be seen… I wait with baited breath. I will post shortly my true feelings about where the research business is going in the outsourcing space and how all the various associations/consultancies/research firms are behaving in this environment.
But this should be an inspiration to boutique firms everywhere who aggressivly get their brand out into the industry. Marketing is everything.
PF
lol….the industry has lost out on some great marketing! Will we now get some good research at least? BTW, I don’t understand a word of Mark Meek’s quote. Congrats to the PR pro who crafted that sentence, that’s how CEO’s quotes in press releases are meant to be. Masters of SHPPs (statistically highly probable phrases)
Sad that Datamonitor’s international growth strategy required a BBoO to fulfill it. And I’m still curious of the first class client list they have talked about.
Datamonitor has completely lost the plot.