Access to research reports are generally on a license that grants possession of a copy of an individual report. The price of each report varies depending on version, topic, scope, depth, and complexity to produce and maintain it. When you subscribe, you will get access to the D6 Portal where you can download your reports and updates that are published during your subscription term.

First and most importantly, we are not a consulting firm. We are an analyst firm, and perform consulting to complement our research to benefit our clients in refining their understanding, adapting it to their unique circumstance, and applying what we learn back into our research and methodology and contribute to the community. It is mutually beneficial as it avoids cooking things up in a vacuum. Further, it is not our aim to bill lots of hours, but rather the opposite by giving clients the knowledge and tools to tackle initiatives themselves and decide where they need specialization on a limited basis to fill the gaps.

Typically, consultants are either so busy working direct contract hours to perform continued research or have a set of key partners by which they get much of their knowledge, training, and even leads. This is less prevalent in the IT market than in the physical access market, where it is pretty standard practice. Businesses are unique and the last thing we would want is someone telling us how to do something based on what they typically advocate per the relationships that they have and approaches taken. It is much more desirable and effective to have a process that searches across the spectrum until it is a best match for what is required. This is the difference.

First and most importantly, we are not a consulting firm. We are an analyst firm, and perform consulting to complement our research to benefit our clients in refining their understanding, adapting it to their unique circumstance, and applying what we learn back into our research and methodology and contribute to the community. It is mutually beneficial as it avoids cooking things up in a vacuum. Further, it is not our aim to bill lots of hours, but rather the opposite by giving clients the knowledge and tools to tackle initiatives themselves and decide where they need specialization on a limited basis to fill the gaps.

Yes. There is a version for Individuals and another for Entities.

• Individuals only represent themselves; not a company.
• Entities are where the person who is signing is doing so as an authorized agent of a company (their company would be liable for obligations under the agreement).

Option 1. You can have them perform the transaction. Then we can change the Subscribed Representative and Buyer Record post-transaction.

Option 2: Download a word version copy of the agreement here, have them execute it and email it to us at legal@d6research.com. We’ll get it countersigned. Once completed, we’ll send a link where you can resume the transaction.

Note for option #2: If there are any modifications to the EULA language, this will cause reviews by our legal team and further delays. Otherwise, turnaround for unmodified executed agreements it typically one business day or less.

You can download an editable word version of the EULA here and provide us with a redlined version. Please detail issues and suggestions (use comments), send to legal@d6research.com along with the name and contact information of the person we can interface with.

Note, we consider non-standard changes based on a few factors:

• • If they are reasonable requests (fairness, reflect room for improvement to our standard terms, etc.).
  • If D6 Research has the ability to meet such obligations outside of our standard practices.
  • Do the proposed requests reflect the best course of remedy to the nature of the issues raised.
  • The strategic nature of the transaction/client making the request (doe sit make business sense for us to do so).

See “Neutrality” Page for details. If there aren’t answers that you’re after contact us or submit a question.

This is one of the primary reasons why this firm was founded. Often, especially in the physical access industry, the way of doing business is a “buddy system” throughout the whole supply chain. The people delivering the solution are often getting their leads from the vendor and/or representing a shortlist of vendors to supply customers with. Too often loyalties are bestowed to partners as opposed to the end users paying them and other times cookie-cutter recommendations come right out of the same old playbook.

This leads to ill-thought strategies, incompatible technologies, and a great deal of rip-and-replace considerations in the future. Also, it produces lots of bad advice around what is really secure, since many vendors just try to sell more widgets to improve the situation. We believe that in order to TRULY serve the interests of end user customers, we can’t have relationships that contain aspects of conflict to the point where both D6 Research and vendor benefit while the end user does not. Yes, even if that means turning business away and having significantly less revenue.

Yes – but only in ways that doesn’t cause a conflict of interest and benefits end users in the industry.

For example, we do discuss innovations, ideas, and encounter a broad range of opinions where we align and don’t align. We may choose to engage more often, or at deeper levels where we believe individuals can provide deeper perspectives. We may introduce vendors to advisory clients – ONLY if that end user client is seeking the specific viewpoint or capability that they possess. D6 is not compensated by the vendor, only by the end user, by working as part of their extended team and within scope of the advisory work itself.

Other times, a vendor or an integrator may need assistance with specific areas where we’re unique subject matter experts (with an end user project or internal solution strategy). We do so but only in ways where we perform our defined function but remove ourselves from any specific customer sales, product sales, account relationship, or product-specific processes and discussions. It’s also engagement specific, so we’re never there long enough to earn a coffee cup with our name on it.

Due to the nature of digital products (once they’re distributed reversing the visibility into the content is challenging), officially, the refund policy is that we do not offer refunds. However, we will consider refunds on a case by case basis where circumstances support an exception (generally relating to fraud regarding the transaction, defects of the product that prevent their advertised use, etc.). Please check out our refund policy in Policy Central under “Resources” Menu.

The original concept was that we would not, under any circumstances, transact any dollars with vendors and manufacturers. However, we ran into some challenges that made us reconsider out of necessity in achieving our vision. For example, if we are performing forward-looking research for end users on where the market is and where it should be heading, and only offer these insights to end users, then how can vendors gain insight on what they should consider changing? In some respects, vendors need to have the same level of access to information and to be honest, some are focused on innovating, so having a system where we can have dialogue with them is beneficial to the entire community including end users. Therefore, we make the most of the same research available to vendors and manufacturers if they request it, at the same fee as our client community.

We never charge for vendors that would like to brief us on what they do – never. However, if they want us to brief them on the market in detail, we do offer such services. Since they often require several hours, and travel, we do require compensation that is designed to recover costs – not be a profitable revenue stream. In either instance, we do not solicit either of these services, but rather make them available at an equitable rate to compensate for resource allocation and related expenses. This is offered in the spirit of knowledge not being exclusive to one community or another since it takes each to make changes to truly advance solutions for end users to benefit.

Access to research reports are generally on a license that grants possession of a copy of an individual report. The price of each report varies depending on version, topic, scope, depth, and complexity to produce and maintain it. When you subscribe, you will get access to the D6 Portal where you can download your reports and updates that are published during your subscription term.

Generally:

• Assess viability of topic based on timeliness and impact.
• Scope the general hypothesis, likely metrics, and relevant body of research
• Research phase
• Validation Phase
• Vendor Reviews (to ensure accuracy and open feedback on perspectives)
• Copy Edit
• Limited Release Peer Reviews
• Publication

Great question. Payment is neither requested nor accepted. We have a policy to consider ALL vendors that have a relevant solution and meet the scope of the research item we are conducting. We will either get in touch with you far in advance, or send us a note to inquire when we may be planning to cover your space. If there appears to be a match, we will disclose the abstract and criteria to be included and go from there if there is a fit.

Our policy is that any vendors that do participate in having meaningful dialogue to answer our questions, perform demos, or send us products to test will benefit by being involved in a process that enables us to consider their points of view and will benefit by being able to review draft versions of our reports before they are released to the public. We do this not for permission of the content, but to consider and gain feedback on inaccuracies and oversights that may need to be corrected. Note, we make changes at our own discretion but encourage viewpoints and feedback to consider.

Alternatively, if vendors do not participate, we will perform assessments to the best of our ability based on publicly available information and from our client community if they have hands on experience with recent versions of their product. If we cannot obtain all of the information, we will note this in the report, as well as if the vendor declined to participate. We never choose to not cover vendors because they refused to participate or made legal threats if we do so (yes, it has happened, and we strongly believe that this is the worst and inexcusable behavior in the industry that is never to be permitted). We will still do so and defend our right to do so responsibly.

Short answer, no. Longer answer: Understandably it is reasonable for manufacturers to desire to have market intelligence that is not available to their competitors or on a topic that they would like to specifically educate their customers on. Unfortunately, it is against our policy to perform research specifically for vendors that will not be available to the rest of the market.  The good news is that there are plenty of analysts that do this, however we are not one of them.

If you would like to distribute research that has already been performed (or planned) to your customers, we can discuss distribution options to enable you to do so. We also offer some capability if you are a subscriber without having to pay license fees each time via our Content Redistribution License (CRLTU) that’s included with the vendor version of our research reports.

Short answer is yes. The longer answer is: 1) we do not perform research that is paid for and to be exclusive to any one entity (except investors); and 2) send us a note or call, and we can tell you if the topic is already in our queue. We typically plan a year out so we can probably tell you when we plan to tackle the topic. Alternatively, if it interests us, we can move the priority. We can be quite motivated if we have an organization that is willing to work with us where we can study the challenge in a real client environment. We don’t like doing things in a vacuum. If you are an end user and are interested in doing so, we’d love to hear from you.

All reports come with 12 months of complimentary updates. Typically updates once a quarter. You’ll be put on a list to receive notifications of the update and be able to download the new version.

We consider the expertise and overall resource demand effort it takes to produce and maintain that specific report. Since D6 focuses on in-depth reports, generally the effort is significant. Versions also impact price since the content varies between the same report topic.

Yes. We offer several standard discounts on the following.

• Volume discounts on purchasing multiple reports:
  • 3 or more: 10% total purchase.
  • 5 or more: 20% off total purchase
• Volume discounts on increasing the number of licensed users of a report
• Purchasing a pre-release of a report (prepay in advance of publication).
• 20% off Renewals for customers in Good Standing
• Your price is always locked so it never goes up (but you benefit if it goes down).

Check out our Pricing Info page in the “Buy” menu for a table.

Due to the nature of digital products (once they’re distributed reversing the visibility into the content is challenging), officially, the refund policy is that we do not offer refunds. However, we will consider refunds on a case by case basis where circumstances support an exception (generally relating to fraud regarding the transaction, defects of the product that prevent their advertised use, etc.). Please check out our refund policy in Policy Central under “Resources” Menu.

Yes. We value the services they provide to the community and realize that funding is often constrained. To decrease barriers, we offer a 50% discount for all federal and municipal agencies, and publicly owned/funded education and healthcare providers. Private education and healthcare providers get 20%. Law enforcement agencies may qualify for complimentary licenses. If you are one of these agencies, you’ll need to contact us ahead of time before purchasing in the eStore.

By default, our eStore accepts all major forms of credit card payments – Visa, Mastercard and Amex. If arranged in advance, we can accept a check, EFT, or Purchase Order for approved clients.

Short answer: yes. Please view our Speaker Request page for all the details.

Yes. Conferences, keynotes, briefings, user groups, and trainings. Ranging from security conferences to HackerCons, vendor events or private association events, and training law enforcement agencies. Fees vary, but generally, if its a private event, you must cover travel and fees. If its a public agency, and we willing to do it, then we generally contribute at no charge (law enforcement events, training, public university, public utility, etc.). Contact us for more information.

Fees range from $2,500 USD to $8,500 USD. Lower end if its something we already have prepared and increases depending on needing to create new content or presenting for extended lengths (beyond 2 hours). We don’t change for some public agencies, particularly law enforcement trainings and conferences.

All travel (air, ground, transit, etc.) and incidentals (meals, hotel) are at customers expense.

Generally, we don’t charge speaking fees for speaking at vendor neutral trade or user groups (ISSA, OWASP, etc.) We also NEVER charge law enforcement agencies.

Unless otherwise agreed, we maintain ownership and copyright of the content. Don’t worry, we don’t want to own any of yours either. Also, we need to agree ahead of time on filming and copies of the presentation. We are open to it, but sometimes we need to be careful about what makes it out to distribution.

For the most part, we’re pretty flexible. If it’s regarding some of our published research content, then you might be interested in a vendor version report that provides you with redistribution licenses to much of that content. You can check out the “CRLTU” Agreement in Policy Central for more details. Or put us in touch, and we’ll get your marketing liaison whatever they need.

Generally yes, However, being security, there are times when we may be discussing information that is not in the public domain. This can be specific exploits, unpublished research, and other sensitive issues that greatly benefit the audience, but can be drawbacks of greater disclosure. This is covered during the planning phases to ensure expectations are met and boundaries are respected.

This requires our consent. In general we don’t have issues if we aren’t making disclosures not intended for public consumption and if there isn’t research content that otherwise requires a license. If it does, we can discuss working that out (we can agree on redactions, omissions, etc.). Some basic ground rules are 1) let us know your intentions up front so we can plan the content to be conducive toward your goals, 2) always attribute the source, and 3) don’t change the context of our statements.