What Dresner Advisory does

Dresner Advisory Services, LLC is a private, Nashua, New Hampshire-based research and advisory firm founded in 2007 by Howard Dresner, widely recognized as the "Father of Business Intelligence." The firm produces subscription-based market research on business intelligence, data and analytics, AI, performance management, and ERP, sold to enterprise data, analytics, technology, and business leaders globally. Its core methodology, Wisdom of Crowds®, runs annual surveys of thousands of end-user organizations to produce vendor-neutral, data-driven market studies spanning demand and supply sides of each technology market.

The firm's product portfolio includes flagship annual Market Reports (BI, EPM, ERP), thematic market studies (Self-Service BI, Data Engineering, AI/ML, Generative AI, Agentic AI, Cloud BI, Embedded BI, Workforce Planning, Supply Chain, Sales Performance Management, ESG Reporting, Active Data Architecture, Semantic Layer, Data Governance), Special Reports on emerging topics, Research Insights briefs, and an annual awards program recognizing top-ranked vendors. Distribution is membership-based: enterprise and vendor members subscribe to access the research library and the Data Leaders Community, an ongoing peer network with direct analyst interaction. A generative-AI assistant (SARA) augments the research portal experience, but the firm's core product remains human-authored primary research backed by 16+ years of longitudinal data and an exclusively senior analyst team with over 500 years of combined industry experience.

Dresner makes money primarily through recurring annual subscriptions to its membership tier, with no disclosed external funding, no public listing, and no parent company. The GTM is sales-led and community-led, targeted at enterprise data/IT/business decision-makers and technology vendors seeking thought-leadership and demand-generation support. Recent strategic direction is expansion of research coverage into new technology categories (ERP, Semantic Layer, Generative/Agentic AI, Active Data Architecture) and geographic reach into EMEA, supported by two consecutive years of analyst hiring.

Name

Dresner Advisory

Legal name

Dresner Advisory Services, LLC

Website

https://dresneradvisory.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Dresner Advisory Services is a private, subscription-based research and advisory firm producing vendor-neutral Wisdom of Crowds® market studies on BI, analytics, AI, performance management, and ERP for global enterprise and vendor members.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research and Advisory Services

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Other Management Consulting Services (541618)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro primary industry

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Advisory (BPAHAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Real Estate Investment Advisory (Acquisitions/Dispositions, Capital Allocation) (BPAJANAA)

Keywords

• Market research reports
• Business intelligence research
• Data analytics advisory
• Performance management research
• Enterprise software research

Headquarters

HQ city

Nashua

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Subscription: Subscription-based membership providing access to market reports, Research Insights, analyst interactions, and the Data Leaders community. Members receive ongoing conversation with analysts rather than transactional 30-minute engagements, with little to no wait time to meet with experts.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Dresner Advisory Services is a membership-based research and advisory firm that produces the Wisdom of Crowds® market research portfolio covering business intelligence, data and analytics, AI, performance management, and ERP. Subscribers receive access to flagship annual market studies, special reports, research insights, the Data Leaders community, and ongoing direct engagement with senior industry analysts. The firm sells subscription memberships to enterprise buyers and provides tailored advisory engagements to technology vendors.

Product overview

Dresner Advisory Services is a research and advisory firm offering a comprehensive portfolio of market research products centered around its Wisdom of Crowds® research methodology. The core offering consists of annual flagship Market Reports (including Business Intelligence, Enterprise Performance Management, and ERP studies) and thematic market studies covering Self-Service BI, Data Engineering, AI/Data Science/ML, Generative AI, Agentic AI, Cloud Computing, Embedded BI, Workforce Planning, Supply Chain Planning, Sales Performance Management, ESG Reporting, Active Data Architecture, Analytical Data Infrastructure, and Data Governance. The portfolio also includes Special Reports on emerging topics like Data Security, Data Observability, Data Catalogs, and Semantic Layers. Supporting offerings include Research Insights (analyst briefs on current trends), the Data Leaders Community (member network with analyst access), and annual awards programs (Technology Innovation Awards, Application Innovation Awards, Industry Excellence Awards) recognizing top vendors in their thematic studies. All products are backed by the company's 100% data-driven, non-sponsored crowd-sourced research approach with over 500 years of combined industry experience and more than 3,000 pages of research published annually.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wisdom of Crowds® Market Reports Comprehensive, data-driven studies examining both demand and supply sides of key industry and technology markets. Based on extensive surveys of actual users and buyers, the reports analyze adoption trends, intentions, priorities, use cases, and buying dynamics, and include objective vendor ratings derived from end-user feedback.
• Special Reports In-depth, timely research studies addressing significant market developments, emerging technologies, competitive dynamics, or strategic inflection points. These reports draw on the same objective, user-driven methodology as flagship research while providing flexibility to examine important topics, vendor comparisons, or evolving market conditions as they arise.
• Research Insights Focused research briefs published throughout the year examining significant trends, technologies, and management issues shaping the modern enterprise. Each brief is grounded in independent, user-driven research and concludes with pointed, practical recommendations.
• Data Leaders Community A membership community of like-minded data and analytics professionals providing access to Dresner analysts, peer networking, regular meetings, chat boards, and an expansive library of industry research for members.
• Flagship Business Intelligence Market Study Flagship annual report (now in 17th edition) covering all aspects of the BI market, including drivers, targeted users, success metrics, budget plans and allocations, objectives and achievements, adoption, product longevity and replacement, and strategic technologies and initiatives, with a new section on the impact of AI on BI.
• Self-Service Business Intelligence Market Study Annual study (now in 15th edition) examining end-user perception and deployment trends around self-service BI, collaborative BI, data governance, natural language analytics, generative AI, and agentic AI.
• Agentic AI-Assisted Analytics Report Companion report examining organizations' attitudes and uses of agentic AI, covering relative importance, priorities, training, obstacles, and data sources. Multi-step reasoning and conversational analytics are identified as the most critical capabilities.
• Cloud Computing and Business Intelligence Study
• Data Engineering Market Study
• Workforce Planning and Analysis Market Study Annual study covering tools and processes that help align workforces with business goals, strategies, and workplace dynamics, including requirements, analysis, forecasting, and plans to optimize human resources.
• Agentic and Generative AI Report Annual report providing in-depth examination of user trends and perceptions around generative and agentic AI, including innovations, adoption, budget, priorities, use cases, concerns, and the importance of training with proprietary data.
• Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Market Study Flagship annual study providing comprehensive assessment of EPM usage and trends, covering current usage, deployment intentions, software importance, success metrics, planning priorities, and AI impact in EPM.
• Embedded Business Intelligence Market Study Annual study examining end-user trends in embedded BI as the technological capability to include BI features as an inherent part of applications, assessing importance, adoption, architecture, and feature requirements.
• Supply Chain Planning and Analysis Market Study Annual study examining market requirements and priorities for supply chain analytics enabling organizations to develop insights for procurement, processing, and distribution of goods.
• Sales Performance Management (SPM) Market Study Annual study examining end-user behaviors around SPM adoption, budgets, and overall success analyzed by organization size, geography, and other attributes.
• ESG Reporting Market Study Annual study examining attitudes toward ESG reporting worldwide, evaluating organizations' readiness, identifying which standards organizations adopt, and exploring how organizations implement ESG reporting.
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Market Study Flagship report examining ERP usage, priorities, and intentions with 75% of organizations using ERP and 81% preferring cloud deployment. Covers ERP evolution into a comprehensive operational and analytical platform.
• Active Data Architecture Report Report covering a platform-independent layer between physical data stores and data consumption points, comprising virtualized and distributed data access, data governance, and security capabilities.
• Analytical Data Infrastructure Market Study Annual study defining technology components for integrating, modeling, managing, storing, governing, and accessing data sets serving as sources for BI applications, tools, and users.
• AI, Data and Analytics Governance Market Study Annual study (now in its fourth edition) analyzing end-user deployment and sentiment around governance, including its relative importance, business use cases, governance practices and policies, and solutions support.
• Generative AI Report Annual report providing in-depth examination of user trends and perceptions around generative AI, including innovations, adoption, budget, priorities, use cases, concerns, and the importance of training with proprietary data.
• AI, Data Science, and Machine Learning Market Study Annual study (now in 12th edition) showing AI deployment includes demand forecasting, customer segmentation, and predictive maintenance as most important use cases, with a ModelOps study covering production model challenges.
• Semantic Layer and Data Virtualization Market Study Annual study examining end-user perception and trends around semantic layer and data virtualization technologies, including adoption, use cases, capabilities, features, integration techniques, and deployment options.
• Analytical Data Products Report Annual report examining integrated technology environments supporting multiple analytical or BI use cases, including data engineering, governance, self-service BI, AI/ML, embedded BI, cloud support, and agentic AI.
• Data Security and Privacy Special Report Special report covering cybersecurity evolution from firewalls to access control and identity management, addressing data security and privacy in the context of distributed data environments.
• Data Observability Special Report Special report examining the growing complexity of data flows, transformation logic, and increased emphasis on data governance of quality, security, privacy, lifecycle management, and costs.
• Data Catalogs Special Report Special report on data catalog technologies valued for enhancing data discovery, enabling data governance and compliance, fostering collaboration, and supporting data integration and analytics.
• Technology Innovation Awards Annual awards presented to top-ranked vendors across 16 technology-focused Wisdom of Crowds thematic market studies, recognizing excellence in data and analytics capabilities based on end-user input.
• Application Innovation Awards Awards presented to top-ranked vendors in applications-focused thematic market studies covering finance function and adjacent areas such as supply chain, sales, and workforce.
• Industry Excellence Awards Awards acknowledging vendors who achieved leadership in the Wisdom of Crowds Business Intelligence, Enterprise Performance Management, or ERP Market Studies.

Quantifiable outcome

• 82% of respondents perceive data engineering as important in 2026 study
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability8 records

Feature4 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• IDC (International Data Corporation): Global market intelligence firm covering BI, analytics, AI, and ERP end-user and vendor market sizing; offers subscription trackers and advisory that overlap with Dresner's data-driven research portfolio.
• 451 Research (S&P Global Market Intelligence): Part of S&P Global, covering enterprise IT including data, analytics, and AI with subscription research and advisory; broader portfolio but directly competes for technology buyer mindshare.
• Gartner: Largest global IT research and advisory firm; competes broadly in BI, analytics, AI, ERP, and EPM research and offers a much wider portfolio of Magic Quadrants, advisory, and events that overlap with Dresner's thematic studies.

Emerging players

• KuppingerCole Analysts: European-headquartered analyst firm covering identity, security, AI, and data management, with adjacent rather than direct overlap to Dresner's BI/analytics coverage.

Direct peers

• Constellation Research: Advisory and research firm focused on disruptive technology including AI, data, and digital transformation; competes for the same CIO/CDO buyer personas with subscription research and advisory services.
• Nucleus Research: Smaller research firm providing ROI-focused case studies and technology research, targeting similar enterprise BI/analytics buyer audiences with primary-research-style deliverables.
• Aberdeen Group: Research firm producing benchmark reports on analytics, BI, and enterprise technology, addressing overlapping buyer personas through a similar subscription model.
• Forrester Research: Public research and advisory firm with overlapping coverage of BI, analytics, AI, and enterprise technology; Wave reports and customer insights are direct substitutes for Dresner's Wisdom of Crowds studies for similar buyer personas.
• Ventana Research: Research and advisory firm covering business and technology, with direct overlap in EPM, analytics, and office of finance research — historically the closest mid-sized competitor to Dresner's BI/EPM agenda.
• BARC (Business Application Research Center): Europe-based research firm focused on data, BI, analytics, and enterprise performance management with vendor and end-user benchmarking studies that directly parallel Dresner's Wisdom of Crowds methodology.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/howarddresner
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dresner-advisory-services-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Dresner Advisory