More than two dozen vendors have also consulted with me on how to position, develop or market their products. Despite their knowledge of their own narrow niche, they often struggle to keep abreast of the whole market and its trends. When they enhance their product, they often end up competing in a space that they are not familiar with. I speak regularly at conferences and seminars throughout Europe and sometimes North America. Unlike other industry watchers, I'm not easily fooled by vendor hype, having been responsible for perpetrating my share of it in the past.
All vendors exaggerate, and a few tell deliberate lies.
Of course, quite often their misleading statements simply result from their own ignorance of the market. I try and neutralise this unbalanced equation. From time to time, my words also appear in other publications, such as the late lamented Byte and Datamation . If you think I can help you understand OLAP, and how it could be used, selected, developed or marketed by your company, I'm available to help. I'm based in London, so it'll be easier if you're in Europe.