Forrester Research dresses up analyst blog platform

Well-known technology and market research firm Forrester Research today unveiled an upgraded blog platform for its various industry category teams and individual analysts.

Forrester claims the new platform will make engagement with readers easier through a more interactive approach to blogging. Using new tools like polling and “most recent posts” as well as search, RSS and Twitter feed integration, the platform aggregates all forms of content from analysts and their teams to one location. The new set up definitely makes it easier to get around and find relevant analysts and topics.

My favorite is the “recommend this post” tool that gives readers more than just the usual sharing tools, such as retweets, Facebook and Digg. It’s a way for readers who have found a post helpful or insightful to let others know they should read the same. Mark Mulligan’s Blog, one of many that posted this announcement, currently has two recommendations from previous readers.

Other research firms leverage similar blog platforms for their analysts. Gartner, a similar technology business research firm, has its Gartner Blog Network, which aggregates various analyst’s posts into one place. Though it doesn’t have the navigational ease or outside integration like Twitter that the Forrester new platform includes.