Spend Matters Welcomes Endeca as a New Lead Sponsor
As the primary author and editor of Spend Matters, I must draw a line in the sand between the editorial and publishing sides of the business (which is supposed to happen in all forms of media, but all too often does not, including at least one long-established publishing model that I'm aware of in the sector). But sometimes, I must admit, I'm even more excited over new commercial -- i.e., sponsorship or advertising -- relationships than others. Endeca, who becomes a new Spend Matters Lead Sponsor today, is an excellent example of such a situation where I must contain my enthusiasm. Many of you are probably wondering why. The answer, fortunately, speaks for -- or should I say visualizes -- itself the moment you've had a chance to see an Endeca deployment whether it's in the Spend Management world or elsewhere.
In a series of earlier short posts on Endeca, I wrote that the solution is differentiated by its "ability to rapidly identify, locate and present information in entirely new ways so that information and insight literally pop off the screen -- instead of waiting for your cadre of sourcing analysts to sort through their OLAP environment and figure out what to do next ... [its] design and UI help to unearth opportunities that were previously impossible to find. While it's early going in the Spend Management world for Endeca, I have no doubt we'll be hearing more from them. And when we do, all of the existing incumbents in the spend analysis world would do well to take notice."
Once I'm able to speak to some Endeca users more closely about their experience with the application, I'll plan to share their stories here. But until then, if your organization is looking for new ways to gain actionable intelligence from both unstructured and structured spend, performance, risk and related supplier or part data -- with an emphasis on the former, considering that is a major differentiator for them -- then I’d urge you to at least look at a demo and decide for yourself whether or not you think this is as much a potential game changer as I do. In the meantime, please join in offering a warm Spend Matters welcome to Endeca. I have no doubt they'll make a name for themselves in the Spend Management world.
- Jason Busch
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Isn't writing about a company in several posts in exchange for an agreed-upon sponsorship violating some kind of blogger ethics? Can you prove (instead of simply insinuating) that an existing publishing company has this kind of exchange in place?
I always felt that the best way to judge someone's ethics is by observing behavior over an extended period of time. From what I can tell, this blog has been consistently unbiased towards sponsors. I am glad that Jason has been able to find sponsors that are willing to live by these rules so that he can justify spending the time he does in writing.
Well said Dant. I second you on that note.
Okay, two in favor of sponsors-based editorial decisions. So you're okay with more coverage being given to the companies that sponsor the blog? I'm not trying to start a shouting match here--legitimately curious about it.
Let's separate out two things here -- sponsorship from coverage. I will always provide a welcome email to new sponsors on the blog. But the fact that they're sponsors has nothing to do with the way I will cover them -- or not. I've been fascinated with what Endeca has been up to long before the talk every turned to them sponsoring Spend Matters. Regarding your first question, I wish I could give you the one example that I have in mind when it comes to pay-to-play in the traditional media world. But I would be violating numerous confidences by printing it. I would, however, be happy to tell you off-the-record if you give me a ring.
is'nt it bias and unethicial to just support your sponsor. Instead of just mentioning it is the best solution. It will be great if we can know how is it different from other solutions out there in market
I only provide detailed analysis of vendors that have offered detailed on-the-record briefings. Last time I spoke with Endeca, they had not yet formally launched their product. I anxiously await an on-the-record briefing so that I can provide more details. That's why I've spoken in generalities about them.
