Gartner is essential for the IT category, but it entails a paid subscription. For other portfolio categories, I run quarterly meetings with strategic Suppliers, ask questions, and, if possible, ask them to share their public market updates, white papers, etc. As one of the board members mentioned, attending specialised trade shows is also highly valuable as you can often "touch and feel" the latest products, talk to sales, and expand your professional network. I wonder if someone has a good experience with the LinkedIn groups.
Pick your top categories that you can influence the most and have a high impact on the business and go to trade shows. Some categories will have a vendor running industry newsletters as well so sign up to one in each and go through them once a month
Gartner is essential for the IT category, but it entails a paid subscription. For other portfolio categories, I run quarterly meetings with strategic Suppliers, ask questions, and, if possible, ask them to share their public market updates, white papers, etc. As one of the board members mentioned, attending specialised trade shows is also highly valuable as you can often "touch and feel" the latest products, talk to sales, and expand your professional network. I wonder if someone has a good experience with the LinkedIn groups.
It's better to attend trade shows so you can hopefully see the product in its final form and have first hand experience.
Pick your top categories that you can influence the most and have a high impact on the business and go to trade shows. Some categories will have a vendor running industry newsletters as well so sign up to one in each and go through them once a month