In the run-run to its 2018 Cool and Hot Vendor Forum on October 18 in Orlando, Florida, the Gartner Observatory is developing case studies to spotlight the most impactful, innovating and intriguing firms we have spoken to, out of hundreds of Cool Vendor designation holders who have taken part in our research. In this case study, our communications director Suwen Chen outline the process for winning the designation, and what the outcomes were.

1. COOL VENDOR IN CLOUD
SECURITY, 2017
WINNING THE COOL VENDOR
As security enterprise software
sellers, Zentera connects or
enclaves unified virtual overlay
networks to secure application
workloads in the multicloud. In their
US headquarter, the team consists
of 16 people. Another 16 people do
the engineering in Taiwan.
The value of the CV has more longevity than
the other awards, which bring a lot of
attention for only one or two months.
It is helpful to have more awards so that
customers can recognize them as a good
company.
ANALYST RELATIONSHIP
"We very much wanted to be a Cool Vendor."
The company knew that they needed to build relationships of trust and collaboration
with analysts and then wait for someone to write about them. The actual goal of
Zentera was their first mention, which leads to further attention. By now, they have
been mentioned twelve times in two years, most of them in 2017.
It did help to get started with Gartner to build network on that relationship.
Zentera bought a Gartner's subscription and got an account manager, who had
access to the analysts. The dedicated manager recommended about a dozen of
analysts on the basis of the needs and interests of the firm.
Altogether they had talked to about 20 analysts during two years.
One of the points "at which [they] just sort of jump a level" was the first time they
met some Garter people in person, which was at the AWS re:Invent in 2015.
Zentera lets their Gartner analysts know when they are going to an event
somewhere. They then meet up there.
Today the company is too small to operate or to go out to events outside the US.
Thus they only meet US analysts, but it would have a big value for them to meet
European analysts one day.
"You have got to show up" to build and maintain a good relationship, which is why
they invested a lot of time and money to visit events.

2. Andrew Lerner, who focuses on
networking, was one of the first
analysts they had talked to.
In July of 2015, Zentera went to a
show in Florida and met him in
person. They drove two hours to
where he lived and had dinner with
him. Andrew said something like:
"Look, you are not a networking
company. You do networking but
you want to be a security
company." It was one of the most
important advice Zentera got
because now they say: "security is
what we do and networking is how
we do it". This is how Gartner "[has]
pulled [them] in directions" and is
therefore very influential to them.
Cool Vendor had a very big impact on
Zentera, as it offered them some
opportunities, like talking to much
bigger companies. Most bigger
companies don't want to work with
start-ups, but sometimes they don't
have a choice. Now they can call
Gartner analysts and inform
themselves about Zentera.
Gartner didn't write about Zentera
until they were confident that
they're trustable. That's why for
other companies and for
customers, the CV is a sign of
credibility. Zentera is very happy to
share their experience as they now
are sometimes asked about how to
manage a relationship with
Gartner.
TURNING POINTS
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GARTNER OBSERVATORY, A UEBS RESEARCH PROJECT
IMPACT
Cool Vendor is very valuable to their
partners, because it shows the
smartness of them, to work with a
company that Gartner thinks highly
of. It's like a virtuous circle.
The Relationship with Gartner does
not bring revenue directly. You
need to know how to use it, and it
helps to attract new investors.
USING THE COOL VENDOR
Home
About
Product
Contact
loading...
Have an
analyst
page on
their
website
Writing
tweets and
do LinkedIn
posts
The CV
report is
available on
their
website.
Name the CV
on their
"about us"
website
page
Mention CV
in their
e-mail
signature
Another turning point appeared
when the company McAfee had a
problem which needed to be fixed
but they didn't want to work with a
start-up. As Zentera was the only
company offering a solution, they
decided to work together. This
important partner relationship
helped Zentera to establish,
because "once [they] could say
that [they] worked with McAfee
then [they] were real". McAfee,
Gartner and Zentera are now one of
those circles, where they help each
other.