But the quality, originality and methodology are more important, analysts say. Some of the services advertise the number of press quotes as an indicator of credibility. In this category, IDC, Forrester, Gartner and Jupiter Communications Inc. excel. Another statistic is the ratio of analysts to total staff. But that ratio, which tends to favor small, narrowly focused firms, may simply reflect the company's diversification.
Many companies now derive considerable revenue from staging conferences, for example.
Whatever their quality, they are growing in huge increments - just like the industry they follow. Giga, Forrester and Meta have seen annual revenue rises from 40 percent to nearly 100 percent. Gartner had net income of dollars 107 million in 1999 on sales of dollars 734 million. Other top companies, including Aberdeen Group, IDC, Jupiter, Yankee Group Research Inc. and Zona Research Inc., are privately held or owned by other companies. But smaller firms have carved significant niches.