IT Market Research with Gleanster Research

Software providers and the businesses that use that software can benefit equally from the astute market research compiled by Gleanster Research.

The information technology market research firm specializes in publishing comprehensive research on business technologies to help decision-makers learn about emerging best practices and help them choose which software to buy.

"There are two sides to the business," Ian Michiels, Gleanster's CEO and founder, said. "The umbrella is we're a market research firm. We help companies make better decisions around technologies. For example, we would help the CMO at Best Buy invest in marketing automation."

"We also provide marketing services with technology vendors eager for introductions to buyers researching on our website," he continued. "We call them solution providers. There are thousands of them on the planet, so it's quite overwhelming for buyers."

The website creates easy-to-use vendor directories sorted by topics, such as marketing automation, e-mail marketing or social media monitoring. The directories help link the buyer with a problem to the solution provider that can solve that problem.

The key is that Gleanster focuses on the smaller mid-market providers that get overlooked by the big players in market research or are unable to afford the services of the big firms.

"We saw a huge opportunity with these small and midsized software providers who couldn't afford traditional market research services," he explained. "They have viable cutting-edge solutions. We decided to make a model that gives them access to credible research and provide services they could actually use."

Gleanster analyzes 10,000 companies a year to develop research about which companies are the leaders in the industry and the best practices they use to stay on the cutting edge.

"We survey the best organizations on the planet and publish the findings online so you can emulate their success," he said. "One of the things that's different about Gleanster is we cover every single vendor in a space, regardless of whether they do business with us. If you're a decision-maker, you want to see all options. You don't want to see just five options."

Clients can access thousands of reports online to stay on top of emerging best practices or decide which software is best for them. A mere $99 per month gives clients access to all of Gleanster's online reports. There is even a free trial access that lets clients download one free report per month.

"We not only help them locate the best solution for their needs, but we also help them emulate best practices from top-performing organizations," Michiels said.

Michiels has worked in marketing and finance for 15 years. He previously worked for a large market research firm when he realized the smaller tech service providers were being overlooked, making it tough for new technology to break into the market alongside the tech giants.

"I decided to build a better mousetrap, free of bias and pay-for-praise," he said of Gleanster's founding in 2010. "Our goal is to give companies of all sizes access to data that can inform better decisions. We also work with software providers to help them expose their brand and validate what they're doing with credible research."

"The quality of the research is superb," he added. "We're constantly doing benchmark surveys. We publish new reports every month. You have access to vendors and reports on our portal. It's a great way to figure out what the best practices are in a very easy, affordable way."

Learn more about Gleanster Research at gleanster.com.

Photo: Ian Michiels, CEO and Founder of Gleanster Research, located at Pleasanton Business Solutions in Hacienda.

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