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Gartner. Forrester. IDC. And lots of smaller fish, too. You can't read a tech-industy news story, attend a conference or listen to a sales pitch without someone quoting an industry analyst. For tech companies, analysts are big news and big business, promising to help with transformation, monetization and a slew of other things ending in "-ation."

But what do technology industry analysts really do? And how do you find the one that's right for your company's needs. Let me try to explain, from the inside. You see, from 1999 through 2001, I was an analyst at Jupiter Research, now part of Forrester Research.

Raise your hand if you want a Windows 8 tablet just so you can use that cool new Start screen. Wait, first put your iPad down. Now raise your hand.

After two public previews of Microsoft's new Windows 8 technology, the one major difference we've seen thus far in what it does, compared to its predecessors, comes from a few of its cloud-reliant apps, including Pictures. You can store your pictures on Microsoft's SkyDrive and have them automatically sync across your (Windows-branded) devices. That's very nice, but no longer new. Come October, it may even be old hat. ReadWriteWeb asked the Panel of Esteemed Grown-ups (who reminded me to say thank you for the esteem) to deduce what kinds of functionality might make you consider purchasing a Windows 8 device, whether or not you have an iPad. Joining us for this round are (left to right):

Ross Rubin, Executive Director and Principal Analyst, NPD Connected Intelligence
Al Hilwa, Program Director for Applications Development Software, IDC
Sarah Rotman Epps, Senior Analyst for Consumer Product Strategy, Forrester
Carmi Levy, Correspondent, Yahoo Finance Canada; Contributing Technology Analyst, CTV

Assume for a moment that you don't own an iPad. Which device do you want more: a new, multitouch-endowed Windows 8 notebook computer, or a new iPad with the vastly improved resolution? Okay, so the latter is available now and the former is not. But if you have already acquired that iPad, or are just about to, will you want that Win8 Ultrabook come October?

These are serious questions for serious people, and it's a good thing that ReadWriteWeb knows their numbers. We've convened the Panel of Esteemed Grown-ups (PEGs) to take up the issue of Windows 8's success against Apple's iOS-based steamroller. Joining us for the discussion (left to right):

Ross Rubin, Executive Director and Principal Analyst, NPD Connected Intelligence
Al Hilwa, Program Director for Applications Development Software, IDC
Sarah Rotman Epps, Senior Analyst for Consumer Product Strategy, Forrester
Carmi Levy, Correspondent, Yahoo Finance Canada; Contributing Technology Analyst, CTV

The world's supply of hard disk drives has fallen dramatically after devastating floods in Thailand killed over 800 people, and brought parts of the country's economy to a standstill. But while flood waters recede slowly, they are still receding. The country's energy ministry today projected a spike in energy demand, as its industry will need more energy than normal to regain its healthy growth rate from before November.

Western Digital is already back in production in Bang Pa-In, once the summer palace of Thailand's kings. But until the country's industry is completely back on its feet, the price of hard drives worldwide may remain unseasonably high. Amazon price tracking data for a 2 TB WD Caviar SATA III drive that sold for as low as $134.99 last September, sells for $210.88 today after peaking at $269.99 around Black Friday.

Enterprises across all industries operate in complex and rapidly changing business environments and must constantly plan, implement, and execute strategies to grow revenue, improve operational efficiencies, and reduce costs. To achieve these objectives, enterprises are increasingly centralizing, automating, Web-/IP-enabling, and internetworking mission-critical processes and applications in order to streamline and integrate various operational aspects of the business. At the same time, enterprise ecosystems are increasingly distributed, with geographically dispersed supply chains of customers, partners, and vendors, as well as decentralized, mobile workforces -- all of which depend on the network to conduct business operations.

Sick of 2011 predictions yet? We've got just a few more. Analyst firm IDC released its 2011 predictions report this week, too late to be included in our earlier analyst firms predictions round-up. "Transformation" is IDC's watchword for next year. According to the firm, transformation driven by the cloud, mobility and analytics. "In addition to creating new markets and opportunities, this restructuring will overthrow nearly every assumption about who the industry's leaders will be and how they establish and maintain leadership," says Frank Gens, senior vice president and chief analyst at IDC.

After the collapse of the economy two years ago, a market force took effect that has led to the "cratering," of a small but telling sector of the enterprise search market.

The story demonstrates how open-source technologies are now more than alternatives for enterprise search. They are the norm.

Look at how smart phones are reaching into the enterprise and it's clear a cultural shift is taking place that is transforming the relationship between IT and business users.

Smart phones in the enterprise are a user-driven phenomena. People buy smart phones to do work, but also for personal use. IDC is estimating that by 2013, a billion mobile devices will access the Internet.

In light of this onslaught, how do IT managers keep things in check? MobileIron believes the trick is in treating smart phones as computers. By employing a data-centric model, IT can manage and control how smart phones are used, while at the same time creating a cooperative environment with users.