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To: Art Bechhoefer who wrote (128920)	5/12/2003 12:03:12 PM
From: Johnnie Memmonic	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 152472

So much for the press and analyst's claim of independence: Further, Lark says Sun "has never spent a great deal of money with Meta so that's probably a factor in this, [although] we wouldn't go so far as to suggest a tangible link between spending and the report." Nick Gall, the primary author of the Meta report, did not return phone calls. For better or worse, customers do put credence into research because it is perceived as being independent. "There's no question that customers take into consideration the opinion of analysts. It's of concern how much customers regard their view," says Lark. But independence is not one of the great hallmarks of analysis in the tech industry. Last June, Boston-based Aberdeen Group was the subject of a damning Wall Street Journal story in which the firm's president, Tom Willmott, acknowledged sometimes publishing glowing reports when paid to do so. The article stated, too, that Intel paid Aberdeen to write a critical report about its main competitor, Advanced Micro Devices (nyse: AMD - news - people ). Analyst firms such as Meta, Aberdeen, International Data and Gartner walk a fine line with the companies they cover. On the one hand, analysts conduct independent research that is often quoted by national news publications. On the other hand, analysts are often paid by these companies to consult on projects like, say, a new product launch. Lark speculated that Meta is purposefully publishing inflammatory reports for the sake of being controversial--and to make a name for itself. Indeed, Meta's bottom line on Sun is somewhat jarring. "We believe [Sun] has the wrong business model long term [and that] IT organizations should reassess their commitments to Sun for Web servers, application servers and database platforms." For the rest of the article, see:http://www.forbes.com/2003/05/12/cx_ld_0512sunw.html?partner=yahoo&referrer=