Phronia advises two sides of the same market: the enterprise leaders who buy technology, and the vendors who sell it. The only reason either side listens is that we tell both the truth. Independence is not a value we aspire to. It is the thing we are selling.
We serve both sides, and we say which.
We publish independent analysis in the open, we advise enterprise buyers privately, and we work with vendors who sponsor our research, our attention, and our reach. When a vendor has funded a piece of work, we say so, plainly, on the work itself. You will never have to guess whether something was sponsored.
Sponsored, never controlled.
A vendor can fund our attention and our reach. A vendor cannot buy our conclusion. The analysis, the grades, the recommendations, and the words are Phronia's alone, and we keep the right to publish a reading the sponsor will not enjoy. A vendor who wants control should buy advertising. A vendor who wants to be taken seriously buys the honest voice.
We advise, we do not implement.
We do not build the systems we assess, resell the products we might recommend, or take referral fees or commissions from any vendor. When we tell an enterprise leader to build, buy, or borrow, no version of that answer pays us more than another. The advice is the only thing on sale.
Our ratings are not for sale.
Placement, grades, and positions cannot be purchased, and sponsorship does not buy a better one. Our published positions are free to read and show their reasoning, so you can judge the analysis on its merits rather than on our say-so.
When we are wrong, we say so.
We are an opinionated firm making judgments under uncertainty, and we will sometimes be wrong. When we are, we correct it in the open rather than quietly. That is the same standard we hold the vendors to.
Hold us to it.
If you ever believe a piece of our work crossed the line from sponsored to controlled, tell us. Write to howard@phronia.co. We would rather hear it than keep the work.