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You are here: Home / Dictionary / Network Dictionary – Bias Testing

Network Dictionary – Bias Testing

16th August 2011 By Greg Ferro Filed Under: Dictionary

This is a generally derogatory term used to describe “independent test results” from well known analyst firms where the tests are not of their own design.

Such tests have usually been devised by the vendor to show their products in the best possible context after extensive internal testing. Each test is carefully selected and proven to be in favour or your product, and then the test plan is sent to an external firm to run those tests.

Of course, the external and independent analyst firm will run these tests and confirm exactly what the vendor intended ie. our wotsit is more gooder than your thingummer. The analyst firm then dutifully reports their “independent testing” and collects a fat fee for their “work”. The vendor gets to say that independent test confirm that our wotsit is gooderer than anyone else’s.

Somewhere in this process, analyst firms don’t seem to regard this as a conflict of interest. A very, very thin line is not crossed because the testing is independent even though the “testing plans” are not.

It can be very difficult for a non-informed consumer to tell what happening. The more cynical industry watchers can pick it from a mile away due to the nature of the tests performed.

As a general rule, independent testing is rarely without bias and should be regarded cynically at all times until proven otherwise. Truly independent testing costs a lot of money to perform and there are not enough clients to pay for it.

About Greg Ferro

Human Infrastructure for Data Networks. 25 year survivor of Corporate IT in many verticals, tens of employers working on a wide range of networking solutions and products.

Host of the Packet Pushers Podcast on data networking at http://packetpushers.net- now the largest networking podcast on the Internet.

My personal blog at http://gregferro.com

Comments

  1. GS says

    16th August 2011 at 19:59 +0000

    Well you would not believe how many clients are actually willing and do pay for real independent testing. I can confirm as I used to do deliver testing services and I certainly did write the plans myself and did not wait for vendors to send me their ATPs. 😉

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