Parting Thoughts on Aberdeen: A Pyrrhic Sale?
Even though I personally have issues with the way Aberdeen ostracized so many employees in the past 24 months, I also give credit to the firm for accomplishing what no other traditional analyst shop has been able to do in recent years: successfully turning a business model on its head. You can criticize how the firm looked upon the value of its employees all you want -- and this criticism is absolutely warranted -- but the fact that Aberdeen was able to ramp revenues by redefining its value proposition to vendors so quickly says a lot. Harte-Hank bought Aberdeen because they saw value and cash flow. Period. They also saw the growth potential of an entirely new business model that Aberdeen had proven out in the market.
But I wonder what would have been possible if Aberdeen had maintained the wonderful talent pool they had assembled in various bits and pieces over the years (some times for what was measured in days and weeks rather than months and years). Might the firm have gone for more? Might the ill-will because of the scorched earth policy the firm leadership followed with its analysts and employees never have existed? I don't know. But besides believing in the virtue of cash -- as Lord Byron so eloquently described -- I also believe in karma. As such, on one level, this is a solid "exit". But on another, there were so many burned bridges along the way that one wonders that at what cost the sale was made.
That's it from me on this subject. I won't devote any more space on Spend Matters to it. It's over. I will, however, continue to encourage Aberdeen to continue its strong coverage of the Spend Management market. In helping build this sector, they have done excellent work over the years, and I expect nothing less in the future.
- Jason Busch
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The real question is whether the level of production that Harte Hanks bought into is sustainable. I've already seen their employee turnover starting to catch up with them in the form of lost revenue (which we've been able to pick up) and with their reputation solidly built on destroying top analysts and salespeople, it has to continue.
I come to bury Aberdeen analysts, not just to praise them.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones and mailing lists;
So let it be with Aberdeen. The noble Jamie
Hath told you Aberdeen analysts were ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath they answer'd for it.
Here, under leave of Jamie and the rest -
For Jamie is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men -
Come I to speak at their funeral.
Thise analysts were my friends, faithful and just to me:
But Jamie says they were ambitious;
And Jamie is an honourable man.
He hath brought many vendors home to Boston
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:
Did this in Aberdeen seem ambitious?
When that the users have cried, the analysts had ambition to survey them and comfort them
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Jamie says they were ambitious;
And Jamie is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the spendmatters
Jason thrice presented them with kind accolades
Which they were grateful, but then gracefully bowed out: was this ambition?
Yet Jamie says they wereambitious;
And, sure, he is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Jamie spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love them, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?
O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Aberdeen,
And I must pause till it come back to me.
Yet, most of the dead have risen to a better place
And the rest, when the non-compete’s have expired,
Will also rise to better places – where they will find joy and respect
Forgive them, they knew not what they had done,
And hopefully we will see more of them in the future
(maybe at IDC or other fine places currently looking for help)
So, let’s raise a glass of mead in their honor
May they fancifully fly in the face of the follies and foibles of a fallacious fiddling flippers to find fresh fields of freedom and fun.
May they also help millions in the future get more bang for their buck.
Have a great weekend all. Stay foolish.
Jason, to state that Aberdeen has proven a new business model in the market is a complete falsehood; I have to question why you pontificate the graces of Bedard? Explain how Aberdeen has proven a new model? Their revenues will decline this year while Gartner, Forrester, IDC, and AMR have all grown – by leaps and bound (go check out earnings reports at investor relations), they have not gained any market share on the other firms – that doesn’t translate to me that a model has been accepted. Aberdeen isn’t even a Research firm, they are a lead generation firm, “Pay for Play”, they only write research that is sponsored by vendors, and will in fact, change the report to reflect positive findings of those companies that sponsored the reports. As far as their benchmarking thousands of end-users… ask how many analysts at the firm spend their weekends and hours in office completing their own survey’s so that they have the “required” amount to finalize the report – I’ve seen this first hand. Aberdeen’s lead generation is a joke as well; Bedard has put his dirty hands into that and regularly provides its clients with useless and outdated names as part of its “lead generation” program in order to meet set criteria. Why do you think so many top analysts such as Tim left the company? They couldn’t stomach the business practice there anymore.
The real kicker of this deal will pan out when we learn the strategy of HH. I suspect that within the next few months Aberdeen will be divested and that this acquisition was merely a play for their database. I can’t imagine that Aberdeen was acquired for much – I am constantly pinging the SEC filings to find the exact amount. Aberdeen with revenues of barely 10Mil. Would not fetch much on the market… unless Bedard was up to his old cooking the books tricks.