I recently saw a link bait listicle titled, “The Top 25 Greatest Artists of All Time.” The idea of ranking ‘greatest artist’ is so silly considering how subjective art and artistry are. And yet I still was curious about who these people thought was Number 1 (perhaps this is the whole point of a listicle).
So, I gave into my urge and clicked... No. 1 was Picasso followed by the usual suspects (Michelangelo, Raphael, Rodin, the Bruegels, etc.). Under each entry was a blurb about why each was great, but there was nothing truly objective or comparative in the blurbs (e.g., “Picasso was truly a revolutionary whose work spanned multiple decades and influenced generations of artists.” So, I guess Michelangelo did so objectively less???)
At least US News has some criteria for its rankings of colleges and universities. Even so, the idea that you are somehow smarter for going to the no. 7 school vs. the no. 8 school is as ridiculous as ranking great artists. I then got to thinking that the very concept of ranking artists is a task that truly pits left-brained people vs. right-brained.
If you want your rankings to be taken seriously, there must be a certain methodological heft that left-brained readers can buy into wholeheartedly. With International Data Corp. (IDC)—a leading tech analyst—naming RPost a Worldwide LEADER in eSignatures in their IDC MarketScape report, we were very pleased with the methodological heft that was applied.
IDC carefully evaluated 18 electronic signature vendors across 27 criteria within two important categories: Capabilities and Strategies.
RPost is well-positioned in both categories, and combined we are a leader out of all the vendors analyzed.
But what we soon realized is that there are many more right-brain folks who look at the chart more as a work of art with colorful bubbles of various sizes floating around a square with elegantly wavy dotted lines. By contrast, the left-brain folks are drawing vectors from the X and Y axis to compare positioning of company plots.
Know More:
SOURCE: IDC MarketScape: Worldwide eSignature Software 2023 Vendor Assessment, by Holly Muscolino, September 2023, IDC Doc# US49646923e. IDC MarketScape vendor analysis model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT suppliers in each market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor’s position within a given market. The Capabilities score measures vendor product, go-to-market, and business execution in the short-term. The Strategy score measures alignment of vendor strategies with customer requirements in a 3-5-year timeframe. Vendor market share is represented by the size of the circles.
We asked some of these right-brain folks how they would interpret the IDC analysis at AppliedNet, the largest insurance conference this week. This one conversation stood out—a perspective that had not occurred to us left-brain folks who read all the details about definitions, meanings, methodology, etc. The most common right-brain response was (and I’m paraphrasing):
“Hmmm… RPost looks like they are more or less tied as one of two worldwide leaders. The very artfully-rendered bubble for RPost seems to be floating nearly the highest, and it looks like the wind is blowing all the bubbles to the upper right, so RPost seems to be doing really well. They are nearly at the top of the upper right,” explains one of the insurance company executives who stopped by the RPost exhibit, while viewing the IDC “bubble chart”.
He continued: “Let’s see, RPost looks to be highest in Capabilities, I get it, features; and also the highest in Strategies. Ok, but what of the size of the bubbles? Ahhh, the bigger the bubble must mean more expensive! So, I see, RPost is a leader, and it also appears that they are much more affordable than the two closest bubble companies. I guess RPost is not the least expensive but, based on bubble size and position, it sure seems a real good value.”
Well, kudos to creative right-brain folks. They got it close! If you’re a left brainer, here’s the IDC report – a free copy that you can read to understand the true technicalities and definitions of bubble size and vector criteria.
Feel free to contact us to learn more about RPost, RSign, or the aforementioned IDC report, and we promise we won’t judge you for which hemisphere of your brain is dominant.
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