Calendar year Q4 is almost upon us, which means it’s time to sit back and watch the rest of the year unfold. Just kidding! Now is the time to start thinking about your plans for next year. For any business, it’s important to understand your industry as a whole before you start planning your next steps: the market baselines, the budding opportunities and the potential pitfalls.
As personifications of the market pulse, industry analysts are instrumental in gathering this intel. Their unique vantage point across end-users, tech-buyers, investors and tech suppliers allows them to paint a fully informed picture of the industry. But what if you don’t have the budget to set up analyst inquiries with all your key industry players?
Enter: predictions season. Every year, a number of analyst firms host predictions events, either in-person, virtually or with a hybrid approach. This is where analysts take their collective knowledge and compile a set of predictions for the coming year – or years – for their area of expertise. Many of these are free to attend and so it’s a great opportunity to access analyst insights, even if you are a start-up or an SMB.
Below, we’ve rounded up some of the top predictions events that have been announced so far.
IDC Futurescapes.
From October to December, IDC is hosting over 45 on-demand and live webinars, each one with predictions for a specific industry, business role or region. They are also hosting a hybrid event for their “all rounder” session, the Worldwide IT Industry 2023 Predictions, which you can attend in-person in Austin, Texas. IDC subscribers will also have access to written reports based on the analyst predictions as they are published.
Take a look at the sessions here and register for those which most align to your business.
CCS Insight Predictions for 2023 and Beyond.
CCS Insight is hosting their virtual predictions event from 18-20 October this year. Over these three days, research leads will discuss the evolution of their markets and share their expectations for the coming years. Alongside the webinar, attendees receive an extensive booklet, outlining each prediction in full, which is a great resource to refer back to.
Register for CCS Insight Predictions here for access.
Forrester Predictions.
Forrester has a multifaceted approach to predictions; combining free-to-access webinars, short video summaries, blog posts and more in-depth gated research. Forrester hasn’t yet released the dates for their predictions series this year, but generally they come out at the end of October. Keep an eye on their dedicated predictions page and social media channels to find out how you can access their insights. In the mean time, their planning guides page already has the latest resources for specific job roles, free blogs for everyone and additional guidance for their subscribers.
Gartner Predictions.
Gartner doesn’t host a clear predictions series, but you can still access predictions-like content from them in the next few months. Research subscribers will see reports published that outline the analyst’s top predictions for next year and non-subscribers can access some of these insights by registering for dedicated free webinars as they are announced, subscribing to Smarter with Gartner and following the Gartner blog.
Omdia 2023 Trends to Watch.
Omdia’s predictions come in the form of “Trends to Watch” reports, exclusively for their research subscribers. If you have a subscription to any of Omdia’s research products then you can expect to see a report dedicated to the specific subject area with predictions on which trends will be important for the coming year.
Starsight advice: feed your 2023 planning with industry analyst predictions webinars and events to ensure your plans are reality-checked.
This opportunity to get free expert advice is not to be missed! Use these events as a cornerstone for planning 2023 alongside the rest of the AR advice that we shared on our LinkedIn page. By building a plan based on trusted third-party analyst insights, you can ensure that you are on top of the market pulse and have market justification for any additional activities or budget needed to support your plans.
Do you have any predictions events to add? Leave a comment here, reply to our post on Twitter or LinkedIn or contact us directly and we’ll update the blog with the latest and greatest predictions events from analysts.
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