How Technology Evaluation Center Lies About Its Independence

Table of Contents: Select a Link to be Taken to That Section

Executive Summary

Technology Evaluation Center produces marketing collateral for software vendors.
However, this does not stop it from claiming to be independent.

Introduction

This article will peek behind the scenes to see what is TEC’s independence.

Our References for This Article

If you want to see our references for this article and other related Brightwork articles, see this link.

Notice of Lack of Financial Bias: You are reading one of the only independent sources on Gartner. If you look at the information software vendors or consulting firms provide about Gartner, it is exclusively about using Gartner to help them sell software or consulting services. None of these sources care that Gartner is a faux research entity that makes up its findings and has massive financial conflicts. The IT industry is generally petrified of Gartner and only publishes complementary information about them. The article below is very different.

First, it is published by a research entity, not an unreliable software vendor or consulting firm that has no idea what research is.
Second, no one paid for this article to be written, and it is not pretending to inform you while being rigged to sell you software or consulting services as a vendor or consulting firm that shares their ranking in some Gartner report. Unlike nearly every other article you will find from Google on this topic, it has had no input from any company's marketing or sales department.

TEC’s Claims at Independence

I found TEC’s explanation of the requirements development template it is selling at this Core ERP Excel Request Requirements.

Every TEC ERP requirements template was put together by our independent industry analysts, who gather current data from all available ERP vendors and organize it in a single, easy to use spreadsheet. – TEC

Understanding TEC’s Business Model

Technology Evaluation or “TEC” is not independent of software vendors. And the relationship is clearly stated at this link which is targeted toward their vendor partners/customers.

This is where I obtained these very informative quotes.

Problematic Issue #1: TEC Is Offering Marketing Services for Vendors, Value Added Resellers, and IT Service Providers

TEC offers a range of research and marketing services for vendors, value-added resellers (VARs), and other information technology (IT) service providers. Here are a few ways we can help your company connect with the right customers. Click on any item below to learn more.

TEC offers marketing services for vendors, and they help vendors connect with customers.” That means that people come to the TEC website, posing as a “better way to buy software,” but it is highly controlled by vendors. – TEC

Problematic Issue #2: TEC Allows Vendors to Publish White Papers (Marketing Collateral) at Their Website

This is explained in the following quotation.

TEC’s extensive library of white papers and case studies is a popular online resource for business and technology decision-makers that are researching software solutions. Publishing your white articles and case studies on the TEC Web site and promoting them in our White Paper Newsletter is a great way to educate prospects, demonstrate your expertise, and reinforce your marketing messages. – TEC

Having vendors publish their marketing collateral on TEC’s website IS a great way to connect with prospects. Let us leave out the term education, as education has a neutral definition meaning knowledge acquisition without control by a profit-motivated controlling company. And the last part is the most accurate, as it helps “reinforce your marketing messages.”

So yes. Indeed, having vendors publish their marketing messages on a website that appears buyer-sided is a great way to reinforce one’s marketing message. TEC continues in the explanation.

Problematic Issue #3: TEC Helps Spread Marketing Messages — While Posing as a Research Firm

TEC’s analysts and software selection experts deliver custom research and reports for vendors, VARs, and consultants. Our vendor spotlight reports and co-branded white papers can help you spread your marketing message and boost sales. Our competitive intelligence reports can help you gain insights into the enterprise software landscape, see where your competitors are winning out, and uncover the trends shaping the software industry. – TEC

This seems to imply that TEC’s analysts mainly produce marketing collateral for sell-side entities. (vendors, VARs, consultants). The term “co-branded” is an interesting one. This means it has both TEC’s and the vendor’s brands on the collateral. However, it was paid for by the vendor, VAR, or consulting firm. The co-branding is, in effect, attempting to confuse this fact. The material is controlled and funded by the sell-side entity. Let us say that SAP hired Brightwork R&A to write something. Would we “co-brand it?” Why would we do that, except to confuse the reader as to who is the author and the funder? I cannot see another purpose of this cobranding.

Problematic Issue #4: TEC Presents Itself as a Multidimensional Marketing Entity, Which Means it Shares Software Buyer Information With Paying Vendors

TEC continues…

Being part of the TEC network puts you in front of one of the largest communities of software buyers. Our advertising programs, content marketing programs, and targeted e-mail campaigns can help you get your message out to a global audience of technology and business decision-makers. – TEC

Yes, TEC works for sell-side entities to help them sell.

Why is TEC Admitting All of This?

This page I have pulled these quotes from is necessary because TEC needs to communicate accurately with vendors and other sell-side entities – however, when you read the rest of TEC’s website, it presents very differently; and it sounds like it TEC is a guide to help buyers make better decisions. It cannot be both; you cannot be a for-hire content producer and amplifier of vendor marketing collateral and also be a guide for buyers.

The Large Vendor Bias Inherent in TEC’s Model

To get showcased as certified, the vendor must pay TEC. The largest vendors have the most to pay, just like Gartner or Forrester.

Selling coverage in this way drives buyers to the most expensive vendors. TEC produces and carries vendor-produced marketing collateral on its website – which pretends to offer a guide for buyers. This means that none of the information on the TEC website is reliable, as it is impossible to know the degree of control by the vendor (or other sell-side entity) and the observations from TEC analysts.

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Conclusion

TEC is like nearly all entities that say they do research we have reviewed in the IT space. They are about producing marketing collateral. There is nothing exceptional about TEC in this regard.