I spent the first three weeks of 2026 sitting in on Digital Asset Management demos from vendors pitching their services to several of our clients. It wasn’t difficult to notice something curious: every vendor today claims to be a “leader.” According to their presentations, they're all top-ranked in analyst reports. They all have the badges, the quadrants, the waves, the awards plastered across their slides.

If every vendor is a “leader,” what does leader even mean?

The real answer is uncomfortable: in most cases, it means little if anything; in some cases it means the opposite.

The Analyst Report Credibility Crisis

The technology analyst industry has long had a problem, and it's getting worse. Pick up any number of recent analyst publications about DAM or other MarTech marketplaces, and you'll notice something troubling at the bottom of the first page:

"Commissioned by [Vendor Name]"

"In partnership with [Three Vendor Logos]"

"Co-branded with [Vendor]"

"Custom research sponsored by [Vendor List]"

"Analyst validation provided in collaboration with..."

Wait a minute. The vendors getting evaluated….also paid for the evaluation?

This isn't analysis. It's marketing with a veneer of objectivity.

And worse yet, at RSG we find that some of the oldest vendors with the most technical debt get crowned leaders more often than more modern platforms.  The former simply know how to play the analyst game better, usually via rich contracts with legacy analyst firms. Peruse any DAM quadrant or wave and you’ll see what I mean.

There's a Different Way

This is precisely why Real Story Group exists, and why we've structured our business model the way we have.

We never work for vendors. Period.

We don't pursue vendor business. We don't do "commissioned research." We don't allow "partnerships" or "co-branding." We don't provide "analyst validation services" for vendor marketing claims. We don't speak at vendor events. We don't accept advertising. How could we tell the real story otherwise?

RSG’s clients are enterprise buyers and stack leaders like you, trying to make informed technology decisions. Our only obligation is to you, not to the vendors we evaluate.

I know most of you get this distinction, but some of you still need to convince your peers.  If that’s your situation, reach out to me; we can help.