Luckily, I have a graph that helps explain this \u2013 though I doubt many will find the graph all that surprising:<\/p>\n We get the most value out of vendor bloggers however whenever they’re either discussing the capabilities of their own products or future direction. Some may insist that discussing capabilities of their own products is little more than an alternate form of marketing, and that may be correct \u2013 however, as we all know, marketing documentation at the best of times is average in its useful content to technical people. Thus, if a vendor blogger actually goes more in depth into a product and helps increase understanding of how that product works and how it might be used, that can’t be bad<\/em>. Equally enlightening (though not always as interesting<\/em>) is when vendors talk about directions that their companies are taking. It helps everyone \u2013 partners, customers and other contributors to the industry peer into perceived futures and see what might be coming around the corner.<\/p>\n Not as reliably useful is when vendor bloggers start talking about paradigm shifts. Usually it’s interesting in some way or another, but it can sometimes smack too much of trying to push the industry in a direction that may not necessarily be appropriate for everyone. I.e., the tail shouldn’t wag the dog, and it can sometimes create the impression that vendors are spending too much time navel gazing rather than actually talking to their customers and finding out what they need. That being said, it provides direction, so can’t be dismissed entirely.<\/p>\n![\"Correlation](\"http:\/\/nsrd.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/10\/correlation.jpg\" "\\"Correlation")