TechValidate Research on The Skills Connection


The Skills Connection Case Study

Medium Enterprise Computer Software Company

Introduction

This case study of a medium enterprise computer software company is based on a May 2017 survey of The Skills Connection customers by TechValidate, a 3rd-party research service. The profiled company asked to have their name blinded to protect their confidentiality.

“I strongly agree that The Skills Connection provide value for money. We got to our first Gartner Magic Quadrant (MQ) Leader position ever, as well as two Leader positions in Forrester Waves, which I put down to the enablement we had The Skills Connection. Not only did they guide us through the MQ process, but they really helped us in nailing the message, the differentiators, the right proof points, and communication of our strategy.”

“The analyst we worked with, from The Skills Connection, has been fundamental in continuously challenging and helping us work on all aspects of our analyst engagement, specifically on the end-to-end MQ processes. The ability to understand our product and strategy, and ask the right questions that lead us to find better answers has been fundamental to our results in this area.”

Challenges

The business challenges that led the profiled company to evaluate and ultimately select The Skills Connection:

  • Engaged with The Skills Connection for the following reasons:
    • Did not have the in-house expertise to effectively engage with analysts
    • Wanted to change their position in the MQ/Wave/Marketscape to generate new business

Use Case

The key features and functionalities of The Skills Connection that the surveyed company uses:

  • Uses The Skills Connection to:
    • Show them how to gather the right information for analysts
    • Show them how to effectively communicate their story to analysts
    • Help them improve their position in an MQ/Wave/Marketscape
    • Focus just on what was needed, and avoid wasting time on anything else
    • Create an internal learning environment so that their team can be more effective in the future
    • Provide the tools and best practices needed to build a strong case for analysts
    • Create compelling evidence-based cases for analysts

Results

The surveyed company achieved the following results with The Skills Connection:

  • Experiences gained with The Skills Connection:
    • Confidence communicating the unique value of their solution to analysts
    • The ability to create a strong evidence-based case to analysts covering their product / service
    • The skills needed to communicate with analysts in the future
    • Unique insights about their solution that were instrumental in winning over analysts
  • Benefits from working with The Skills Connection:
    • Positively shifted their position in the MQ/Wave/Marketscape
    • Received better results than when they had engaged with analysts
    • Provided their internal team the tools and skills to effectively engage with analysts
  • Agrees with the following statements:
    • Met their internal schedules and deadlines: strongly agree
    • Ensured they met schedules and deadlines for the analysts: strongly agree
    • Facilitated the co-ordination of activities across their internal response team: agree
    • Acted as an extension of staff: strongly agree
    • Enabled them to focus on what was needed and avoid wasting time on anything else: agree
  • Agrees with the following statements:
    • Collaborative: strongly agree
    • Knowledgeable: strongly agree
    • Service-oriented: strongly agree
    • Value for money: strongly agree
    • Best practice focused: strongly agree




About This Data

This data was sourced directly from verified users of The Skills Connection by TechValidate.

TechValidate verifies the identity and organizational affiliation of all participants that contribute to published research data. When research participants so desire, we also guarantee their anonymity so that they may share information honestly and freely.


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