E-MailCutter's Philosophy
Cutter's goals are to further the thinking in business-technology and to help organizations leverage technology for competitive advantage and business success. We accomplish our mission by serving as a catalyst for collaboration and debate between business-technology thought leaders worldwide and by giving clients access to this think tank and their insights through our research, training, and consulting -- all of which is provided exclusively by the world's leading business-IT experts.
Cutter Consortium's philosophy is that there is no single right solution for all enterprises, or all departments within one enterprise, or even all projects within a department. Cutter believes that the complexity of the business-technology issues confronting corporations today demands multiple detailed perspectives from which a company can view its opportunities and risks in order to make the right strategic and tactical decisions. The simplistic pronouncements other analyst firms make do not take into account the unique situation of each organization. This is another reason to present the several sides to each issue: to enable clients to determine the course of action that best fits their unique situation.
The Cutter Difference
Cutter's research, inquiry response, consulting, and training are qualitatively different from that of other analyst firms in many vital ways:
Cutter Research gives clients Access to the Experts -- their latest writings and thinking. All of Cutter's content -- right down to the last email advisor -- is provided exclusively by internationally recognized expert practitioners. Cutter has no "desk-bound" analysts. Cutter's research allows clients to tap into this brain trust and get the latest thinking on the business-IT issues challenging enterprises worldwide.
Cutter Inquiry Privileges give clients Access to the Experts -- personalized guidance from the world's top practitioners. Every inquiry is fielded by a Cutter Senior Consultant, Fellow, or Faculty member. Clients can purchase bundles of hours and may allot some of the inquiry time to senior executives, such as the CIO, pairing him/her with a top business-IT strategist so they can brainstorm every month. This allows the two of them to build a rapport and gives the Cutter expert a growing understanding of the issues the enterprise is facing. The Cutter expert quickly becomes a valuable advisor.
Cutter Consulting and Training gives clients Access to the Experts -- hands-on assistance from best-in-class consultants. Unlike other consulting and training firms that use senior partners to sell the work, but junior staff to execute, Cutter uses only its best-in-class experts for every assignment. The Consortium's great strength is that it can draw from its more than 150 internationally recognized experts to assemble the ideal team to help your enterprise tackle any business-technology challenges it faces.
Clients call Cutter "the thinking person's research firm" because of Cutter's dedication to debate of the business-technology issues enterprises face and its success in attracting the thought leaders worldwide to conduct this debate. Clients get cutting-edge thinking plus multiple viewpoints so they can determine what's best for their individual enterprise/department/project. Reliance on current industry trends should not replace the hard work of figuring out what's best for your organization given its business strategy and drivers.
Emphasis is on strategies and processes, not on vendor/product detail. This is based on Cutter's view that it is not the choice of product or vendor that determines success or failure, but sound strategies and business processes, agility, leadership and effective teams, hard-hitting financial analysis, and other complex factors.
Written content is likened to "consultancy in print" since it provides hands-on, actionable solutions from expert practitioners who are successfully implementing these ideas, whether it be IT strategic planning, security strategies, or risk management. This relates back to the fact that the content is written by the people who are on the forefront of their fields and who are guiding companies daily.
Cutter Research -- from reports to podcasts, email advisors to Webinars -- is prepared with both the IT and the business user in mind.
Information and advice is truly objective. Cutter is unique in the research space in having no relationships with vendors. It is well known that other analyst firms derive significant portions of their revenues from vendors and that the choice of which vendors to evaluate, and the slant of the reports, can be influenced by this factor.
Emphasis on agility. The leaders of the agile project management and software development movement are all part of Cutter. Agile methodologies are evolving in real time, as new projects push the previous limits. Clients take advantage of the latest breakthroughs via Cutter research, training, and consulting.
Focus on project management, risk management, and change management so IT can accomplish the changes business demands. Software engineering's pioneers are key to the Cutter team and they know that delivering results depends on successful project, risk, and change management.
Emphasis on IT when it matters -- IT as innovation, as the hyper-differentiator that will give your business the competitive edge it needs to succeed.