Know-how

USING GARTNER RESOURCES FOR BUSINESS GROWTH

For the CIO of a large automotive supplier, it’s not just business, it’s personal:

“I manage extraordinary change while striving to keep service levels high.

With Gartner Executive Programs, my advisor personally directs me to the research
I need, puts me in touch with others like me and takes individual interest in my agenda.”

Gartner Executive Programs.

We get personal
with more than 3,000 CIOs.
More than 3,000 senior IT executives receive preferential and personalized
access to Gartner through their membership in Executive Programs.
But it doesn’t stop there. Gartner Executive Programs participants apply member-driven research, expert advice
and the shared intelligence of an exclusive community to help their enterprises grow, compete and operate
more effectively. CIO members of EXP Premier and CIO Signature access Gartner insight through a dedicated
relationship manager, and their direct reports reap the rewards of topic-based peer exchange through Gartner
Best Practices Councils. CIOs who seek professional development of the highest caliber attend CIO Academy.

We are ready to take personal interest in your IT agenda. Learn more about
Gartner Executive Programs by visiting gartner.com/executiveprograms.

RESEARCH CONSULTING EVENTS EXECUTIVE PROGRAMS

 [ contents ]
03 welcome “No independent IT research and advisory firm in the world is
better known than Gartner.” 04 conquering complexity “What you’ll find, at
best, is a kind of ‘Whack-A-Mole’ syndrome, where complexity is reduced in
one part of an operation when it is optimized, but just moves down the line
to another domain.” 08 interview with gene hall “Our pivotal advantage is our
sheer number of analysts. Our 600+ analysts are out every day working with
end users and technology providers. We provide broad, deep coverage in any
given topic area.” 12 gartner research “We compete with many purveyors of
information, but no one offers the same breadth and depth of research and
opinion, or the same independent viewpoint.” 18 gartner consulting “If you were
to ask me our primary goal at Gartner Consulting, that would be it: Help the
CIO succeed.” 24 gartner events “We create an environment rich in insight and
education based around Gartner rigorous, independent research. There’s
future-looking content that people want for strategizing. There’s also plenty
of practical, real-world content.” 30 gartner executive programs “At all levels,
Gartner Executive Programs is focused on the success of the individual
members, their teams and how they can contribute to the success of their
enterprise.” 35 gartner books “Most CIOs today are excellent managers, but
relatively few have stepped up to become leaders, true enterprise leaders.
And there is a crucial difference between leadership and management.”
38 case studies “With help from Gartner, the client selected an outsourcer with
the necessary delivery capabilities and a good understanding of what this
client needed to be more competitive.” 40 talent pool “Hopefully, you can
either admit you are wrong and move on, or get ahead of the curve of
everybody else and change a position when warranted.”

©2005 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Gartner and ITxpo are registered trademarks of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates.
gartnerknowhow20051018

gartner know-how | 1
Symposium/ITxpo ®
Summit Events

May 15 – 19 North America Business Intelligence Summit March 7 – 9 Chicago, Illinois

Outsourcing Summit April 4 – 6 Los Angeles, California
San Francisco, California Wireless & Mobile Summit April 11 – 13 Orlando, Florida
Application Integration & Web Services Summit April 18 – 20 Los Angeles, California
May 22 – 25 Enterprise Architecture Summit April 20 – 21 Los Angeles, California
Barcelona, Spain METAmorphosis 2005 May 4 – 6 Chicago, Illinois
Business Process Management Summit June 6 – 7 Arlington, Virginia
October 16 – 21 IT Security Summit June 6 – 8 Washington, DC
Orlando, Florida PlanetStorage Summit June 13 – 16 Orlando, Florida
Enterprise Planning & Architecture Strategies Seminar June 14 – 15 Cambridge, Massachusetts
November 7 – 11 GCON: The Gartner Government Conference June 15 – 17 Washington, DC
Financial Services Technology Summit August 29 – 31 New York, New York
Cannes, France Application Development Summit September 12 – 14 Dallas, Texas
IT & Software Asset Management Summit September 12 – 14 Los Angeles, California
November 15 – 18 Energy Utilities IT Summit September 26 – 28 Austin, Texas
Sydney, Australia Enterprise Planning & Architecture Strategies Seminar October 6 – 7 Chicago, Illinois
Customer Relationship Management Summit October 31 – November 2 San Diego, California
November 30 – December 2 Application Integration & Web Services Summit December 5 – 7 Orlando, Florida
Tokyo, Japan Data Center Conference December 5 – 8 Las Vegas, Nevada

EMEA Business Intelligence Summit January 31 – February 1 London, England

Customer Relationship Management Summit March 3 – 4 London, England
Wireless & Mobile Summit April 18 – 19 London, England
Outsourcing & IT Services Summit April 25 – 26 London, England
METAmorphosis 2005 May 24 – 26 Johannesburg, South Africa
Enterprise Planning & Architecture Strategies Seminar June 13 – 14 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Application Integration & Web Services Summit June 23 – 24 Barcelona, Spain
IT Security Summit September 14 – 15 London, England
Data Center Summit November 29 – 30 Amsterdam, Netherlands

Asia/Pacific Application Development, Integration & Web Services April 27 – 28 Sydney, Australia
Outsourcing & IT Services Summit June 7 – 8 Sydney, Australia
IT Security Summit July 18 – 19 Melbourne, Australia
Business Intelligence & Enterprise Portal Summit February 15 – 16 Tokyo, Japan
Sourcing Summit April 19 – 20 Tokyo, Japan
Application Integration & Web Services Summit June 21 – 22 Tokyo, Japan
IT Governance Forum (in conjunction with JUAS) September 6 – 7 Tokyo, Japan

Latin America Application Integration & Web Services Summit March 30 – 31 São Paulo, Brazil
Application Integration & Web Services Summit April 6 – 7 Mexico City, Mexico
Outsourcing Summit June 20 – 21 Mexico City, Mexico
Outsourcing Summit June 28 – 29 São Paulo, Brazil
Economics of IT Conference August 23 – 25 São Paulo, Brazil
Economics of IT Conference August 31 – September 1 Mexico City, Mexico

Gartner Events.

Straight talk on the issues

that matter to you most.
Gartner offers a wide range of events designed to deliver the very latest
thinking on all areas of information technology.
Symposium/ITxpo is our flagship event, the IT industry’s largest and most strategic conference,
covering the entire spectrum of enterprise IT. And Summit Events focus on specific topics and
technologies that are top of mind for today’s business and IT professionals.

For the most up-to-date calendar, or to learn more about Gartner Events,
visit gartner.com/events.

RESEARCH CONSULTING EVENTS EXECUTIVE PROGRAMS

 [ welcome ]
Knowing Gartner.

No independent IT research and advisory firm in the world is better

known than Gartner. Yet many of our clients only know the part they are
accustomed to experiencing.

Relatively few clients of Gartner Research, for example, know that we also
operate a highly valued consulting organization that helps business and
government clients around the world solve problems and stimulate growth
through technology. Likewise, clients of Gartner Consulting and Gartner
Research aren’t always aware of Gartner Executive Programs, the largest
membership organization of CIOs in the world. And delegates to Gartner
Symposium/ITxpo® often don’t realize that Gartner Events operates more
than 60 events worldwide, many of them specifically focused on issues they
need to know more about.

The publication you are holding—Know-how—brings together all the

key resources at Gartner and offers advice on how to use them. Our CEO,
Gene Hall, talks about the recent META Group acquisition and the new
emphasis at Gartner on becoming even more relevant to clients within their
specific industries. In four fascinating and candid interviews, the leaders
of our four business units explain the value they offer clients. We’ve also
cover illustration by leigh wells
highlighted some recent new offerings and insights from our analysts
and consultants. And we’ve attempted to show how these four strategic
“portals” through which our clients enter Gartner can be applied
in combination to achieve the results you want in your business.

We hope you find Know-how as valuable as we’ve tried to make it.

produced by
gartner corporate marketing

Marisa Kopec vp, corporate marketing

Priscilla Raymond editorial director
Tony Leighton copywriter
David Cushman design director
Eileen Murphy project manager
Bart Bailey-Gates marketing/advertising manager
Carol Peck production director
Karen Pasacreta, Sally Fay copy editors
gartner know-how | 3
 latforms. Multiple vendors. New version releases. Old legacy
ystems. The real-time enterprise. Outsourcing. Middleware.
Multiple platforms. Multiple
erver farms. Thevendors.
mobileNew network. Multiple platforms. Multiple
version releases.
endors. New version releases. Old legacy systems. The real-
Old legacy systems. The real-
ime enterprise. Outsourcing.
time enterprise.Middleware.
Outsourcing. Server farms. The
mobile network. Multiple
Middleware. platforms.
Server farms. Multiple vendors. New
ersion releases. Old legacynetwork.
The mobile systems. The real-time enterprise.
Doing
Outsourcing. Middleware. Server
more with less. Doing farms.
less The mobile network.
Multiple platforms. Multiple
because vendors.
more is killing you.New version releases.
Old legacy systems. The real-time enterprise. Outsourcing.
More is killing you. If you’re an
Middleware. Server farms. The mobile network. Multiple
IT operations manager in a large
latforms. Multiple vendors. New version releases. Old legacy
enterprise with an ambitious
ystems. The real-time enterprise. Outsourcing. Middleware.
growth strategy, this statement
erver farms. Thecould
mobile network. Multiple platforms. Multiple
well be true.
endors. New version releases. Old legacy systems. The real-

storm
ime enterprise. Outsourcing. Middleware. Server farms. The
mobile network. Multiple platforms. Multiple vendors. New
ersion releases. Old legacy systems. The real-time enterprise.

front
Outsourcing. Middleware. Server farms. The mobile network.
Multiple platforms. Multiple vendors. New version releases.
Old legacy systems. The real-time enterprise. Outsourcing.
Middleware. Server farms. The mobile network. Multiple
latforms. Multiple vendors. New version releases. Old legacy
ystems. The real-time enterprise. Outsourcing. Middleware.
erver farms. The mobile network. Multiple platforms. Multiple
endors. New version releases. Old legacy systems. The real-
ime enterprise. Outsourcing. Middleware. Server farms. The
mobile network. Multiple platforms. Multiple vendors. New
ersion releases. Old legacy systems.
The problem is complexity,The real-time enterprise.
Outsourcing. Middleware. Server
and it’s getting worse. farms.
Like The mobile network.
Multiple platforms. Multiplestorm,
an incoming vendors.it’s New version releases.
Old legacy systems. The
rising on real-time
the Gartner enterprise.
radar Outsourcing.
Middleware. Server farms.
screen The
because mobile
more clientsnetwork. Multiple
latforms. Multiple
arevendors.
expressing New
mountingversion releases. Old legacy
ystems. The real-time enterprise.
frustrations. Outsourcing.
Complication is Middleware.
erver farms. Theworking
mobileagainst
network.
us, and Multiple
we platforms. Multiple
GREG MABLY

have to
endors. New version fight back.Old legacy systems. The real-
releases.
ime enterprise. Outsourcing. Middleware. Server farms. The
gartner know-how | 5
“People are feeling that the complications
they deal with—more and more technology
becoming more and more sophisticated—is
causing them to suffer, that they really can’t
get their arms around it any longer.”
Complexity is more than an irritation. It’s having a
serious impact on IT productivity. It’s the No. 1 reason
for IT project failure. More than 50 percent of the world’s
computing resources are involved with nothing more
than format conversion. And as complexity grows
with the demand for flawless business services, IT
professionals are wearing down.
To cast more light on the subject, a team of Gartner
analysts has been studying IT complexity and bringing
their findings to Symposium/ITxpo under the title
“Conquering Complexity.” All of them agree that
complexity is never really conquered—you can only hope
to control it—and controlling it is a much-needed strategy
in many enterprises.
Complexity impacts people more than technology.
People are suffering, according to Carl Claunch, who
leads the team of Gartner analysts focusing on this issue.
“People are feeling that the complications they deal
with—more and more technology becoming more and
more sophisticated—is causing them to suffer, that they
really can’t get their arms around it any longer.”
Claunch points to the explosive growth of data
centers, the blizzard of new applications being developed
and, on a personal level, the array of devices most
business people carry to access the network. “Compare
that to the mainframe environment of 20 years ago when
there were maybe two or three systems to manage,”
he says. “Controlling this huge multiplicity of systems
causes enormous stress.”
6 | gartner know-how
What’s Driving Complexity?
It grows like mold. Complexity creeps. In information technology, it always has. New
hardware and software are lashed to the old stuff, and there’s never enough time to pause
and take stock. Just add more servers.
Geek testosterone. Complexity amongst many hardcore IT professionals is
like a badge of honor. “Some people are always trying to prove they can live in that
environment,” says Claunch. “It’s like showing you can function with the heat at 130
degrees. But why?”
Territorial complexity. Claunch says some people build complexity into the
systems they operate as a form of job security. It might be a sprawling database or
a temperamental application. The perception will be that the person running it is
irreplaceable.
Perceived value. Think of Microsoft Word. The more features you add in new
releases, the more you can charge, but it doesn’t necessarily add value for the user who
doesn’t need 95 percent of the complexities.
Nobody is minding the store. The simplification of complexity is one of those
soft issues that doesn’t normally have an appointed champion. As we push more
complexity into the organization, there’s no gatekeeper or sanity checker or CSO (chief
simplification officer). “What you’ll find, at best,” says Gartner Analyst Simon Hayward,
“is a kind of ‘Whack-A-Mole’ syndrome, where complexity is reduced in one part of an
operation when it is optimized, but just moves down the line to another domain.
“This is one of the big challenges for organizations,” says Hayward. “They have to
start taking that holistic view of things from the highest level, so they actually achieve
some global optimization rather than just a local optimization.”
What Is the Cost of Complexity?
1. Things break down more often. 2. Problems are more difficult to diagnose.
3. There’s more risk of error. 4. Availability is at stake. 5. Higher staff costs (and health
costs). 6. Longer learning curves. 7. Innovation and initiative are stifled because people
are unwilling to tinker with a fragile environment.
 Complexity Self-Test
Try this quick self-assessment to see if your
organization suffers from too much complexity:
❏ Unable to make corporate decisions?
• Indecision—rapid change, complexity and unclear
decision rights—slows decision times to a crawl
• Lack of decision rights: can’t tell who has the right
to make a decision (related to the first point)
• Uncertainty of responsibility
❏ Reduced inter-team working due to groups
looking out for themselves rather than the
larger company good?
❏ High turnover of staff as a result of a highly
stressful, uncertain environment?
❏ Experiencing personal impacts?
• Personal stress health impacts on
individuals, such as high blood pressure
• Use of all-caps in e-mails

❏ Eroding control of inventory, ordering, billing and asset ❏ Executives departing, either by choice or by
tracking causing delivery and billing mismatches and force (perhaps also causing organizational
delays, loss of assets, etc.? stress)?

❏ Unable to resolve problems quickly? ❏ Problems communicating, including lack of

• Unresolvable software and hardware
incompatibilities and change control challenges
leading to software and hardware failures, loss of
functionality and security risks
• Retention of legacy systems as workarounds
• Lost availability
• Reduced system reliability
communication to the outside world as well
as inaccurate/confused/complex internal
communications?
❏ Complexity in all enterprise applications (CRM,
ERP, SCM, accounting and HR) causing excessive
process errors and delays?
❏ Highly inaccurate revenue/earnings forecasts
due to lack of visibility and complexity?

Is Complexity Always a Bad Thing? Is Anyone Doing It Right?

No. “That’s one thing that’s becoming obvious,” says
Claunch. “You can’t say that complication is always bad
and that the simpler something is, the better. Think of a
unicycle. It’s very hard to operate. Now think of a Segway,
the personal transport device. It’s much more complicated
from a technology standpoint, but far easier for the user.”
Says Hayward: “If you look at service-oriented
architecture, there are cases where it increases complexity
and others where it definitely reduces complexity. The
challenge is to get the complexity where you want it, or
where you get greatest advantage from it.”
The rule should be when complexity improves
things—such as functionality, resiliency, redundancy or
agility—then it’s “good” complexity that needs only to
be managed. When it clearly harms or inhibits things—
slowing them down, creating work that isn’t productive
and stifling innovation—then it’s “bad” complexity that
needs to be eliminated.
The same companies that have leveraged IT for massive business growth are also managing
complexity well. These are process-focused companies such as Amazon, eBay, Wal-Mart
and JetBlue. It’s built into their ethos to use technology, but not get used or hindered by
technology.
There are other anecdotal examples cropping up everywhere. For example, a
global energy company that used to manage desktop computing like most other
large corporations—through centralized control—is now allowing all employees to
be responsible for their own computing environment. The centralized method was
frustrating for the user, and applications were constantly out of date. Under the new way,
there are almost no complaints because employees serve their own needs.
Where Do You Start?
Recognizing complexity as a problem is the first step. “People in operations tend to be
fatalistic about it,” says Hayward. “It comes at them steadily. They accept it as part of the
job. But it doesn’t have to be.”
Having recognized complexity and begun to understand its impact across the enterprise,
it’s imperative to appoint someone to analyze it accurately. Gartner is advocating an approach
that Hayward and Claunch are calling Value of Complexity. It’s essentially a cost/benefit
analysis of your complexity based on best practices across the world.
“In each and every area where we do research, we are collecting best practices from
customers,” says Claunch. “These represent guidance as to the best value of complexity
and, correspondingly, as we work with people who have problems, we’re discovering
where there’s much needless complexity. In this way, we are arriving at a formula for
finding the best points of balance.”
“At the end of the day,” says Hayward, “complexity is all about how people interact
with the world around them, whether it’s the technology world or other people. It is about
interaction. When complexity crosses that boundary point where it overloads people, then
you have to do something about it. It’s hurting them and the enterprise.” ■

gartner know-how | 7
d
 Gene Hall joined Gartner as CEO in mid-2004 and has already
had a major impact on the way the company does business. His
immediate goals: deeper and broader research (through the meta
Group acquisition), more industry-specific research and a greater
worldwide presence for technology’s No. 1 independent authority.

deep insight
an interview with Gene Hall

What do you see as the Company’s central
value proposition to clients? Being a technology
professional is a tough job. Change never stops. Products
from technology providers get updated constantly. There
PHOTO: TRACEY KROLL | DIGITAL ILLUSTRATION: DAVID CUSHMAN
What’s the ROI Gartner provides? We can be the
difference between a $50 million IT project succeeding or
failing, between a CIO performing at a high level or getting
fired for not doing a good job, between paying a 20 percent

are security threats to worry about. Internal and external
systems have to work without a hiccup. Expectations
from business units are always high. These are fun jobs
if you like technology, but they’re extremely demanding
jobs, nevertheless. What we do is provide technology
professionals with the insight and information that can
help them succeed in these demanding jobs.
premium for big IT procurements or paying only what’s
fair, or between having a major security breach that costs
you $40 million or being prepared because Gartner warned
you about it and prepared you for it.
Frankly, our value proposition is among the best
I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen many companies, thanks to
my years at McKinsey. Clients usually spend less than 1
percent of their IT budget on Gartner. For that, you get a
tremendous wealth of practical, applicable advice you can’t
get anywhere else. We have more than 600 analysts who
are constantly thinking of what will make the difference
between success and failure in our clients’ businesses.

gartner know-how | 9
“What we do is provide
technology professionals with the
insight and information that can help them
succeed in [their] demanding jobs.”
What do you see as Gartner’s competitive advantage over others who
say they provide the same thing? Our pivotal advantage is our sheer number of
analysts. Our 600+ analysts are out every day working with end users and technology
providers. We provide broad, deep coverage in any given topic area.
Our analysts are seasoned professionals with years of industry experience; they are
not recent college graduates.
Let’s say a technology provider has recently offered a new product that’s supposed
to improve availability. A Gartner analyst can tell you which companies have used it
successfully and why, which failed to use it successfully and why, whether or not it will
work in your environment and what you’ll have to do to make it work. There’s nowhere
else in the world you can get that same insight.
Gartner is always emphasizing its independence. Why is that so
important? It’s this simple: If you get IT product or service advice from someone
who has a vested interest in your deciding one way or another, that person is not acting
independently and that demonstrates a conflict of interest very well. At Gartner, we
don’t have a vested interest in your deciding one way or another; we are only interested
in what’s right for you. There is simply no conflict of interest.
What is top of mind with Gartner clients today? There are several issues,
depending on the particular client’s situation. There’s a continuing focus on being
efficient—reducing costs. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the IT budget is going down,
although that could be, but people want cheaper per-unit costs. Security is another major
issue. People worry about security. It’s almost as though you can’t do enough because
the thieves are becoming more creative every day. In many industries, compliance and
regulatory requirements are a big issue. If you want to know the big issues of today, just
look at the content of Symposium/ITxpo. Open the conference program. Run your
finger down the list. This event reflects what our analysts and consultants see in the real
world.
What changes are you and the Company making to better respond to the
challenges facing your clients? We are making sure we are as deep and broad as we
can be on every topic that’s important to our clients. We acquired META Group largely
for that reason.
META will also help with specific industry solutions, which are increasingly
important to our clients. META will help us answer questions like, “Which industry-
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Gene Hall
Age 48 Book You Read Most Recently
Family Married to Beth “Securing and Optimizing Linux,”
Gerhard Mourani
Education Bachelor’s in mechanical engineering,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology; master of Book You’re Currently Reading “H.M.S. Surprise,”
business administration, Harvard Business School Patrick O’Brian
Position CEO, Gartner, Inc. Recent Movie Seen “The Aviator”
Favorite Web Site tomshardware.com
10 | gartner know-how
specific software should I use?” or in retailing, “How do
I maximize RFID?” This is a whole new growth area for
Gartner.
Finally, we are making it easier for clients to do
business with us. For example, it can be difficult to
schedule time with an analyst, so we’re re-engineering
that process.
What are the other reasons the META
acquisition is good for Gartner clients? Our two
companies have complementary research coverage. One
of our strategic objectives is to make our analyst coverage
superior by an order of magnitude to anything else in the
market. META was covering some areas better than we
were, and vice versa. Put the two together and clients get
the best of both. Clients can definitely expect an enhanced
product in the year ahead.
Secondly, there’s a huge need and opportunity for
research and advisory services around the world. We
started in the United States, so that’s where our largest
client base is. Today about 40 percent of our business is
from outside the United States, and one of our priorities
is to grow this over time. META had a presence in several
countries outside of the United States; combining this
with Gartner’s international presence, we will be able to
serve non-U.S. companies better than ever before.
Finally, the merger will give us better sales coverage.
Frankly, our sales force has been spread too thin to offer
the level of continuity we would like. The combined
Gartner/META sales force will address that.
One of your personal priorities is to ensure
that clients know there are multiple ways
to solve problems with Gartner—Gartner
Research, Gartner Consulting, Gartner Events
and Gartner Executive Programs. Can you
 elaborate on this? Many clients use only one of our
businesses; they are getting only part of the value we can
provide. Gartner is designed to deliver research and advice
four ways. Gartner Research is our core offering. It’s the
collective work of our extraordinary analyst community.
We deliver our analysts’ original thinking and data
analysis through our four businesses, which all have
different approaches.
Some people find it useful to go to an intensive
conference like Symposium/ITxpo or one of our other
events to be immersed in the very latest research and
opinions on key topics.
For CIOs, we highly customize access for their
specific needs through Executive Programs, where they
have a personal relationship manager and one-to-one
service and guidance. Others prefer Web access via a
Gartner Research seat and gartner.com. Finally, Gartner
Consulting offers hands-on business and technology
counsel from that unique Gartner vantage point.

What are you planning to talk about at the

Symposium/ITxpo events when you address the
delegates? The theme of Symposium is conquering
complexity. Before coming to Gartner, I was responsible
for technology at ADP, a Fortune 500 global technology
and services company with about US$8 billion in
revenues. Part of my job was to lead a 1,600-person
The META Acquisition:
software development and IT operations organization
that introduced new, high-growth products. Minimizing
complexity was essential.
Opening More Doors
In most industries, change happens at a much slower Gartner completed its acquisition of META Group in April. Why was
rate than it does in IT. Information technology is not
it done? Two words: bigger and better. Clients of both companies will
only extremely complicated, but changing at a rate that
benefit from the powerful combination of products and services from
never lets up. You have a firewall from one vendor, a Web
server from a different vendor, an enterprise suite from both companies.
a different vendor, other hardware from other vendors, Expect: Broader research scope in general. Broader international
databases, monitoring tools, etc. And all those things are coverage. Greater industry-specific depth. Greater depth of technology
on different release schedules with patches and fixes and coverage. More comprehensive consulting and measurement services.
incompatibilities that arise. More analysts and consultants.
There are tens of millions of lines of code and in some
META Group clients can now access the Gartner Research database
cases, the guys that wrote the code are gone and there’s
and confer with Gartner analysts and consultants. Likewise, Gartner
no documentation. Add to that thieves and hackers and
viruses, and the pressure to grow the business through clients now have access to META Group products and services that will
technology. Oh, and everything has to run without a be integrated into Gartner.
hitch 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. META will also expand the Gartner sales effort, with more sales
Our role at Gartner is to figure all that stuff out and representatives to improve client service, and greater penetration
PAUL ANDERSON | IMAGES.COM

distill it down on behalf of our clients into reliable data,
well-researched opinions and practical advice they can
use every day to remove the complexity, make the right
decisions and sit back and take a breath. We help them
not only cope but be successful—to get ahead of relentless
change and make it work in their favor.
To my mind, that’s incredibly valuable. ■
beyond the traditional Gartner client base. “There’s a huge need and
opportunity for research advisory services around the world,” says
Gene Hall, Gartner CEO. “We have been quite U.S.-focused, even though
40 percent of our published research comes from outside the U.S. With
META, and its more developed foreign business, we have an opportunity
to reach out to a much broader non-U.S. client base.”
gartner know-how | 11
12 | gartner know-how
DAN YACCARINO | IMAGES.COM
Gartner Research is the heated core of all
our businesses, the source of data and insight
that flows continually from more than 600
Gartner analysts around the world.

brain trust

In this interview, Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president

of Gartner Research, explains how we help clients solve their

business problems and how they can better help themselves

leverage Gartner resources.

gartner know-how | 13
Gartner Research sits at the intersection
of a huge network of users, technology
providers, the academic environment
and the investment community.
100% independence. Founded in 1979, Gartner
now has more than 600 analysts worldwide servicing
10,000 client organizations around the globe. Our position
as technology’s No. 1 authority is based largely on our
independence. Here’s how we keep it clean.
Hard-wired: To begin with, independence is an
unassailable value of the Company; it is hard-wired into the
organization. Independence for Gartner is an irreplaceable
business asset. Everyone inside the Company knows it and
protects it.
Unhindered: The average Gartner analyst has 15
years of experience. One hundred percent of the research
they develop is original. Our analysts operate as independent
thinkers, free of influence from inside or outside the
Company. Their opinions are grounded in a consistent
methodology.
Arbitrated: Our standards for objectivity are
extremely high. They are defended and upheld by the
Gartner Office of the Ombudsman, an independent defender
of independence. The Ombudsman takes action whenever
issues of accuracy, fairness, tone and balance arise.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Peter Sondergaard
Age 41
Family Married to Marta Armida. Children: Oliver, 8,
and Alexander, 5 months
Education Master’s in economics, University of
Copenhagen
Position(s) Gartner: SVP, research content; head
of research, Technology and Services sector;
sector vice president, research; research and
general manager, Gartner Research EMEA; and
program director, personal computing research
area; International Data Corp.: research director;
Scandinavian Airlines Systems: responsible for the
integration of PCs between hotels and SAS data
Company Most Admired LEGO Group. Turning a simple
idea of a brick into a global trademark and company
admired by adults and children
14 | gartner know-how
What are clients of Gartner Research most concerned about today? Our
clients want to understand and drive continuous value from information technology to
support the objectives of their businesses.
How is Gartner making that easier? We help clients distill their problems, and
we suggest solutions and options to them. We do that verbally, with text or with graphic
models. We also show them what similar organizations in their industry and others have
done. We give them choices.
The world of technology is increasingly complex because of its deep infusion into
business processes, so organizations such as Gartner are becoming increasingly valuable,
not only to technologists but also to business professionals running technology projects.
They want the complex to be made easier.
What is it about Gartner Research that differentiates it from all the
other information clients can gather? Gartner Research sits at the intersection
of a huge network of users, technology providers, the academic environment and the
investment community. The size of the network—and the vast amount of information
swirling through it—differentiates us and the size of our community of analysts, who are
constantly learning, interpreting and advising.
How do clients get value from Gartner Research? Through reading the
research or engaging directly with analysts, either over the phone or face to face. The
value is in getting exactly the information or advice you need to make a decision, then
making the decision with greater clarity. That’s always of value.
Who are you competing with, and how is Gartner Research different? We
compete with many purveyors of information, but no one offers the same breadth and
Book You Read Most Recently “Pompeii: A Novel,”
Robert Harris
Book You’re Currently Reading “My Life,”
Hans Christian Andersen. The year 2005 marks the
200th anniversary of his birth. He is the greatest
storyteller there is
Recent Movie Seen Some movie on the plane
Major Business Influences I believe strongly in no
one being perfect, which is why in business you will
be influenced by many people, each adding a little to
your personal encyclopedia of business
Major Personal Influences My math teacher in
Belgium when I was 13, and my parents
Favorite Web Site gartner.com (should be obvious!)
Favorite Saying “May the IT force with you”
depth of research and opinion, or the same independent viewpoint.
Other research companies in the IT field are much smaller and therefore limited in
the scope of their research and the final distillation of their opinions. We have many Getting the
more analysts, a much larger client network and the ability to connect it all.
Gartner is able to put teams of analysts together that work on the same topic but
look at it from different angles. Often they are based in different parts of the world, or
Most Out of
they have experience in different business sectors. The synergy within these analyst
communities is remarkable. It leads to the innovative thought process that ultimately
gartner.com
results in our research and opinion.
Consulting organizations also offer information and advice, but the strategic
business consulting organizations are often too close to the big technology providers.
The research they present is often supportive of certain products, almost like marketing
material. Our critical difference is independence and integrity, and our ability to distill
complexity into something that is relatively straightforward and easily explained.
Those are the key factors that make Gartner Research the No. 1 source: scope, depth,
brainpower and independence.
1 Read the home page
first. If you skip to
Where is Gartner Research having a major impact on the way clients “search” without looking,
do business? It’s important to realize that we are literally researching everything of
you’ll miss new First
importance in IT, so our impact is pervasive and continual. Pick any topic. For example,
we are researching software ecosystems—these huge stacks of software—and there’s a Takes, Magic Quadrants,
substantial consolidation in the market. That’s one area where we’ve assigned multiple Hype Cycles and the
analysts with different kinds of expertise. It’s a complicated topic that requires many
minds to be able to interpret what is going on today and what the best steps will be Monthly Research
tomorrow. Our research around sourcing has also been important. We have been able Review.
to look at sourcing from a business process perspective and advise clients on how to
deal with various sourcing frameworks. We have a senior analyst in India who works
with our sourcing analysts in Europe and the U.S. to build a highly informed and clearly 2 Use advanced search.
interpreted body of research. You can only do that if you have people based around The filters make it easier
the world who talk with many different clients. The best research is largely about to get to exactly what
recognizing patterns.
you need. Narrow your
How do clients want their information, and what is Gartner Research criteria for a shorter list
doing to deliver it that way? They want information that’s concise and relevant.
They don’t have a lot of time to read, so they want it distilled and quickly recognizable.
of more relevant results.

3
They also want it in the context of how they engage—in a vertical industry, for
example—addressing the primary issues they face and the specific role they play, be it Be alerted. Don’t use
a CIO or an infrastructure architect or a chief marketing officer. We’re answering these one or two broad Alerts.
needs, first by distilling constantly into clear, easy-to-grasp language and, secondly,
by better organizing our work around industries and roles. Gartner Research is like a Create several specific
funnel with an extremely wide top. queries to ensure each
What else has Gartner Research done lately that clients should know
one delivers what you
about? We have started to better articulate our coverage agendas. It just makes sense need. Make gartner.com
to let your clients know what you’re working on, and to get their input so they have
work harder for you.
more say in the direction of the research. We’re asking clients to rank what we already

4
do and to recommend new areas of coverage. The research industry has been built
around the organizations deciding the coverage. While we don’t want to be entirely Use the Focus Areas.
client-driven because our people constantly identify things most clients don’t know Focus Areas will link you
about, we want to strike a better balance.
to hot research, the most
How do the other Gartner business units—Consulting, Events and relevant browse topics
Executive Programs—affect Gartner Research? It’s a symbiotic relationship.
and suggested searches
Gartner Research is the intellectual foundation of the other units; the other units
constantly feed intelligence into Gartner Research. Gartner Consulting is a good and Alerts.
example. Consultants go into great depth with most of their clients. Gartner analysts
provide the research used by the consultant and learn from the consultant’s work.
Gartner Events attracts more than 30,000 people to our events each year. Analysts
5 Spend time in Browse.
present to the delegates and interact with them. So Gartner events, like Symposium/
Read the Research Topic
ITxpo, are both a platform for validation of existing ideas and a source of new ones. Index available in Browse
With Executive Programs, we are in steady touch with more than 3,000 CIOs who
help to get familiar with
are driving IT strategy at some of the world’s largest enterprises. Again, they want our
research and we want their input. Across the entire Gartner network this give and take topics that best match
is very powerful. your interest. Browsing
Is it part of your mandate to formalize the capture of that intelligence? will be easier. Scan
Absolutely. We are structured to capture ideas, evaluate them, devise new ways of searching will be faster.
looking at things and then ultimately articulate them in an easy-to-understand way to
the client.
gartner know-how | 15
What IT topics are top of mind with Gartner clients?
Here are the 10 most popular topics, based on queries to the Client
Services Organization. During 2004, Client Services fielded more than
107,000 such queries. Beside each topic are the number of inquiries
logged between March 2004 and March 2005.
1) IT Management (2,654)
2) IT Services and Outsourcing (2,337)
3) Semiconductors (2,269)
4) Enterprise Management (1,964)
5) Security and Privacy (1,912)
6) Servers and Storage (1,909)
7) ERP and Supply Chain Management (1,848)
8) Knowledge Support (1,731)
9) Application Development (1,675)
10) Communications Services (1,635)
seen&noted
Gartner analysts are constantly writing Research Notes on
subjects of greatest concern to our clients. Here are excerpts
from recent ones that cast new light on a dozen hot topics.
Bigger and Better Displays: Productivity Boosters
When IT leaders consider investing in updated PC equipment, they are usually
driven by factors like upgrades to the Windows operating system, or rising total cost
of ownership costs at the end of a life cycle. The displays being used by information
workers have not typically been a major consideration. Companies need to change
this attitude if they are to benefit from increased productivity … To get the best use
out of the human brain’s ability to recognize patterns will require improvements in t
he way information is viewed. One key to that progress will be through producing
better displays.
—Bigger and Better Displays Will Boost Productivity at Last, Mark Raskino, 1 April 2005
Software Architecture: The Rise of the Virtual Network
Several trends will drive the future of software architecture. Modularity, service
enablement, events, dynamism and reuse are all key factors. However, the movement
of complex software into the realm of utility computing will have an even larger effect.
The cost of building today’s relatively simple SOAs will be dwarfed by the cost of the
complex systems that will eventually be built. This will drive technology providers and
end users to experiment with virtual architectures … Virtual networks of services will
become a reality by 2010.
—Software Architectures Will Evolve From SOA and Events to Service Virtualization,
Daryl C. Plummer, 9 March 2005
16 | gartner know-how
How can clients make better use of Gartner
Research? Using gartner.com skillfully is important.
It’s the way to get at everything we publish. Beyond that,
it’s important to talk to Gartner analysts, particularly
one who’s studying your issue. It’s easy for us to provide
written research to clients, but that’s actually only a
fraction of what we know. Gartner Research really comes
alive when you spend 30 minutes on the telephone or face
to face with an analyst.
Many people think Gartner Research is a library or a
database. That’s only one dimension. The written stuff is
reference material that helps you understand the eventual
conversation with the analyst, who can explain the most
recent findings specific to your business.
Can non-clients do that? Only when they attend
one of our events and book a One-On-One session, but
no, obviously they can’t call analysts on the phone. That
requires buying a Core Research seat.
Why is a seat so valuable? In one interaction with an
analyst or through reading a small number of documents,
what ultimately happens is you will be able to either
save your company money, optimize existing processes,
shorten project time or ensure you and your colleagues
are better informed and, thus, will make better decisions.
Real-World Web: Massive Connectivity Five
Years Away
The first serious effects of the “real-world Web” will
start to be seen within five years. But it will be a decade
before mass deployment levels breach key tipping points
within social groups and business markets … By 2015,
wirelessly networked sensors in everything we own
will form a new Web. But it will only be of value if the
“terabyte torrent” of data it generates can be collected,
analyzed and interpreted.
—Extracting Value From the Massively Connected
World of 2015, Mark Raskino, Jackie Fenn and Alexander
Linden, 1 April 2005
The Linux Desktop: Over-Hyped, for Now
The benefits of Linux OS in a desktop environment
continue to be over-hyped. Contributing to this
misinformation are eight myths that Gartner identified
in 2003 (see “Myths of Linux on the Desktop”), as well
as two more recent examples that further exaggerate
the advantages of deploying Linux on desktops … The
hype surrounding Linux may create unrealistic customer
expectations; however, companies also need to know
the real benefits of desktop Linux and how they can
achieve those benefits.
—The Myths About Desktop Linux Persist, Michael A.
Silver, 1 April 2005
Ultimately, you will be able to guide the strategy and tactics of the organization you
work for much better.
How do power-users leverage Gartner Research? Many users get Gartner
involved just before they have to make a critical decision at the end of a project. In
those cases, there’s only so much light we can shine on the subject. Power-users use
us throughout the life cycle of a project—for the initial planning, during the project
phase, during the implementation phase and, ultimately, during the maintenance
and improvement of any project. At all stages, they benefit.
What does it take to be a Gartner analyst? We look for the ability to
analyze a problem then articulate good advice both verbally and in written form. So
[we look for]: thinkers, writers and communicators. A great analyst has a unique way
of providing advice to people.
With a great analyst, it doesn’t seem to matter what
subject they are actually covering. We have people,
like [VP and Gartner Research Fellow] Nick Jones, for
example, who started covering application development
and then went to Y2K, then the introduction of the euro,
and now he’s a specialist in mobile-based applications.
The man is brilliant. He knows his stuff, and nobody
would think that seven years ago he didn’t know a lot
about the mobile-based industry.
In a sense, he’s a living metaphor for Gartner Research
itself. We have the brain trust. The job is to continually
turn it toward the problems our clients face and give them
the answers they need—preferably brilliant ones. ■

Open Source: Revolutionizing Software Markets Personal Firewalls: Wait

Open source software is a catalyst that will restructure
the industry, producing higher-quality software at lower
cost. It won’t destroy industry giants such as IBM and
Microsoft, but it will revolutionize software markets by
moving revenue streams to services and support, and
away from license fees.
—Positions 2005: Open Source Solutions Will Restructure
the Software Industry, Mark Driver, 23 February 2005
On-Demand TV: Pulling Ad Dollars Its Way
Advertisers will shift significant dollars over the next five
years, as large numbers of consumers reveal how they use
new technology and as advertising opportunities push
new forms past the experimental stage. Many advertisers
are already moving away from TV toward media such as
broadcast Internet video, but overall dollar impact is small.
—On-Demand TV Will Prompt Slow Shift in Ad Spending,
Laura Behrens, Denise Garcia and Van Baker, 17 March
2005
Telephony: Voice Service Prices Plunging
As broadband access becomes increasingly pervasive,
alternative carriers will deliver heavily discounted voice
services direct to end users over the broadband connection,
bypassing the fixed-line carrier. This is probably the most
disruptive threat confronting fixed-line operators today.
At stake is the telephony market, which accounts for more
than half of a fixed-line carrier’s revenue.
—Market Focus: Measuring the Disruptive Impact
of Voice Over Broadband (Executive Summary),
Puneeth Punja, 31 March 2005
IT Channels: Major Shake Out
A rapidly changing market with new buyers and new
preferences is altering the IT channel landscape. In
five years, there will be fewer suppliers and channel
companies, and those that survive will be the ones
with a narrow market focus. Application development,
outsourcing and business processes represent 75 percent
of all services. During the next few years, that’s where all
the growth opportunity for channel companies will be …
Status quo firms are being bought out, or worse, going out
of business, because they are no longer relevant. By 2007,
30 percent of today’s IT channel companies (primarily
value-added resellers) will no longer exist.
—Market Focus: The Future of the IT Channel, 2005 – 2010,
Michael Haines, 25 March 2005
Personal firewalls are one defense among many that protect against malicious
code and attacks that bypass perimeter security. There may be better ways to spend
your limited security dollars in 2005 than installing and managing a personal
firewall on every desktop, so focus on our top 4 usage tiers. For ubiquitous personal
firewall functionality across all tiers of usage, we believe most organizations will
wait for converged personal intrusion prevention security platforms—which
include personal firewall functionality—to mature and for price points to drop in
mid-2006. Until then, you will find a better return on your security investments
with improved patch management and distribution capabilities, and network access
control technologies.
—Desktop Personal Firewalls: When to Buy, When to Wait, Neil MacDonald and
John Girard, 25 March 2005
IT Project Failures: Throw It Over the Wall
There is still a high failure rate for IT projects because the complexity of business and
technology continues to outstrip the ability of technology tools and methodologies
to keep pace. At the same time, few firms take pains to integrate IT into their
strategies, relying instead on a “throw it over the wall” approach, and that makes it
difficult for IT to track the changes in a fluid organization.
—What Business Executives Expect From Infrastructure, Jorge Lopez,
22 December 2004
Business Continuity Management: Customize or Fail
There is no “one size fits all” when it comes to developing business continuity
management strategies and plans. Using someone else’s requirements, which might
turn out to be based on limitations or regulations that your company doesn’t have,
could spell disaster of another type.
—Six Myths About Business Continuity Management and Disaster Recovery,
Josh Krischer, Donna Scott and Roberta J. Witty, 16 March 2005
E-Mail: Plan for Disaster Before It Happens
Many organizations suffer major e-mail downtime because they wait for disaster to
strike before investing in disaster recovery management processes and solutions for
short recovery time. Don’t be one of those companies.
Many companies have realized that their e-mail systems are vital applications
that cannot be down for long after a disaster without incurring serious business
consequences. We advise those that have not protected themselves to reduce
or minimize the consequences of disaster by creating and implementing a
comprehensive disaster recovery plan. Because of the criticality of the e-mail
system, and the need to recover in minutes to hours, and not days, we recommend
companies evaluate service-provider-based and software-based replication
solutions that enable this goal because traditional tape-based recovery approaches
will take too long. Further, we advise that you push apathy aside (the “it won’t
happen to me” syndrome) and protect yourself before disaster strikes and affects
your business.
—Build Your Disaster Recovery E-Mail Architecture Before a Crisis Arises,
Donna Scott and Robert E. Passmore, 21 March 2005

gartner know-how | 17
 trusted advisor
Gartner Consulting is the leading independent consultancy at the nexus
of technology and business, helping clients manage major technology
change initiatives, optimize operations and outsource successfully. We
asked Bob Patton, president of Gartner Consulting, about what clients
need today, how Gartner Consulting is competitively different and
whether clients can expect a high return on their consulting investment.

What are the clients of Gartner Consulting most concerned with today?
The context of so many conversations with clients today revolves around three things:
extracting the business value from their IT investment, doing more with less and
maintaining the competencies they need to achieve their aspirations.
Increasingly, clients are coming to us for Critical Program Management. They have a
wide array of major technology programs but they don’t have the structure, leadership
and methodology in place to manage those programs effectively. Often there just aren’t
enough people to devote to the task, or the right skills, and program management is not
their core competency. Strategic sourcing is another major line of business for us. Many
clients are still unsure about what their sourcing strategy should be, what capabilities
they should provide in-house and which ones should be outsourced. We also do a lot of
IT optimization. Clients want their infrastructure investment to pay off. We help them
optimize that investment.

What advantages does Gartner Consulting have over competitors? Gartner

Consulting offers what all leading consulting firms must offer: experienced consultants
who work with rigorous methodologies, and top-level knowledge management,
including best practices.
Our edge in our market is also what makes Gartner unique. There is no other
consulting company that can bring so many valuable resources to bear on the challenges
of technology executives. I’ve been calling it the “Four Cs.” We offer content through
Gartner Research that no competitor can provide. We offer community through our
Executive Programs, which is the largest CIO membership program of its kind. We offer
context through Gartner Events, where senior decision makers from the technology
world gather to learn about our latest findings. And with Gartner Consulting, clients are
better able to manage change in a technology-and-business environment that is always
changing rapidly, and where the stakes are high.

What specifically about Gartner Consulting gives your clients an

advantage? We are fact-based and knowledge-centric. These are important qualities.
With so many consulting firms, it’s the luck of the draw. How smart is the consultant
sitting across from you? Sometimes he or she is really smart, and sometimes he or she is
not. What’s unique about Gartner Consulting is our direct access to some of the smartest
people in the IT world through the Gartner analyst network. Proprietary research,
original publications, the very latest facts and figures, Gartner benchmarking data—we
have it all at our fingertips. McKinsey doesn’t have it, IBM doesn’t, Accenture doesn’t.
And they couldn’t replicate it if they tried. It’s Gartner knowledge-driven insight, and it’s
very valuable to our clients as they navigate change and make major strategic decisions.

In practical terms, what does Gartner Consulting do for clients that’s so

valuable? Clients are always trying to gather data they can assimilate into a higher level
DAN PAGE

of knowledge—unique insights that can be applied for strategic advantage. We bring our
clients insights that can make a tremendous difference in the direction they take their
gartner know-how | 19
 have adequate structure, leadership and rigor around
program management.
Outsourcing Do’s & Don’ts
What about the private sector? A notable example
Five Common Errors Five Winning Strategies involves a major electronics company that has a new
1. Short-sightedness. Outsourcing 1. Get good advice. Outsourcing CEO. He plans to decentralize a lot of activities. He
is often done as a short-term, money- is too complicated and risky to do wanted a consultant with a trusted brand and a proven
saving strategy. Beware. Costs often alone. Work with an independent methodology that could sit on top of that collection of
escalate over the long run. And don’t advisor that has lots of experience. It programs.
automatically think the cheapest deal always pays. Gartner will help in a number of ways. If the CEO
is the best one. It seldom is. decides to oversee change from within, we’ve got a
2. Start at the end. Most enterprises
framework, a model, methodologies, dashboards, etc. If
2. Sole-sourcing. Enterprises often pick a vendor first, then negotiate
he wants performance management, we know how to
hand the job over to a familiar a contract and, afterward, manage
help evaluate performance and predict outcomes. With
service provider without shopping the deal. First, ask how you want
suppliers, we provide the very latest market research
around. Don’t. Vendor prices vary the outsourcing to look, feel and
and help clients source and evaluate suppliers. All of
tremendously. function. Then create a strategy
this will be brought together by Gartner Consulting in a
3. Fat RFPs. RFPs are long, tedious (draw a map).
program management office (PMO) established onsite for
documents that force too many 3. Work together. Companies often managing the elements of transformation: performance,
candidates to provide too much negotiate with a service provider cost, HR, suppliers, customers, contracts, change.
information that’s really not all that as if they are at war. Wars always
useful. They are a bad habit. Fast- produce casualties. Commit to the What’s the ROI on Critical Program
track with more accurate methods. relationship. Management? It’s always high for the client. Major
4. Dragging it out. When the 4. Measure before and after. initiatives entail major cost and risk. Having someone
process takes too long, both parties Measure performance to prove your knowledgeably help control those costs and reduce those
get exhausted and the deal can suffer. operations should be outsourced. If risks is quantifiably valuable. Money is saved. Time is
Don’t rush, but set a tight timeline. you do a deal, measure performance saved. Change is accelerated.
5. Cleaning house. Some companies regularly to ensure you are getting
wipe out their IT departments. It’s a what was promised. How has Gartner Consulting changed in the
big mistake. Good people are needed 5. Leave openings. Outsourcing past year to better serve clients? We are much
to run the outsourcing relationship. deals are often tied down tight in a more client-centric. What does that mean? It means we
Keep them and give them an contract for five to seven years, even don’t show up once a year before contract renewal and
incentive to stay. 10 years. Leave room to renegotiate ask if we can be of assistance. We are investing much
based on change, which is inevitable. more time in getting to know the senior people within
client firms and doing more advance thinking about their
problems—knowing their challenges, increasing our
value to them over the long term. Clients want that. They
businesses, in who they choose to deal with for products and services, in the applications want a single point of contact. They want context. They
they choose to implement, in the way they refine their organizations to meet the major want continuity. They want us tapped into their strategies
changes they will have to face. so that when a problem arises we can hit the ground
The most significant barrier to change in any organization is trust. Clients also want running.
advice they can trust from a brand they can trust. Skepticism relative to motives is a
major headwind to any change that has to be implemented across a wide population. The You mentioned the optimizing of infrastructure
Gartner brand is based on trust, independence and objectivity. When clients trust, they being a major client issue these days. What’s
can accelerate their pace of change. That alone has great value. the problem? Information technology has long been
promised as a strategic differentiator. However, that
Where is Gartner Consulting having the greatest impact? Mission-critical promise has not been adequately met so IT is under
program management. Our clients are telling us this is a major problem, and we’re seeing pressure. Business leaders often see it as a cost, not
it for ourselves. According to independent research, about two-thirds of our clients’ a strategic advantage. That’s why outsourcing is so
transformational initiatives fail for a variety of reasons. Largely it’s because they don’t prevalent. Infrastructure and IT transactions are seen as

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Bob Patton

Age 45
Family Married to Cornealia. Children: Rob,
15, and Alexis, 13
Education Bachelor’s in business
administration, accounting
Position(s) President, Gartner Consulting;
CEO, Cap Gemini Government Solutions;
managing director, Cap Gemini Americas
Company Most Admired Disney
Book You Read Most Recently “Rise of
Theodore Roosevelt,” Edmund Morris
Book You’re Currently Reading “Mission Possible,”
Ken Blanchard
Recent Movie Seen “The Bourne Supremacy”
Major Business Influences Principles of “Good to Great”
Major Personal Influences Iron Men, a personal
accountability group
Favorite Web Site sstcharts.com (critical data for
deep sea fishing)
Favorite Saying “Consider the interests of others
more than your own”

20 | gartner know-how
 When Gartner Consulting helps organizations
optimize their IT infrastructure, the goal is to improve
management and structure. This is achieved by first What Is IT Optimization?
aligning with the goals of the businesses it serves, then
moving them forward.
You must start with the fundamentals.
Stability. The systems and technology must
work when they are turned on. Robustness. IT
products and services must recover quickly if they go
down. Efficiency. IT must operate on budget within
predetermined cost limits.
Believe it or not, many IT organizations don’t have
the fundamentals right. That’s why business leaders so
often dismiss IT as an expensive service or commodity.
IT groups that have the basics right get less trouble from
the lines of business. Those that have optimized their
infrastructure tend to enjoy the best relationships with
senior business managers.

Gartner IT Optimization Methodology

There are four essential steps to optimizing any IT
organization: benchmarking cost efficiency, assessing
process maturity, assessing risk, and aligning IT with
the business goals.

Step One: Benchmarking Cost Efficiency

How efficiently do you use your technology budget? To
find out, you have to understand clearly two key metrics:
cost and workload/complexity.
Cost includes: type and number of specific
technologies the company uses, how much it spends on
these technologies, how many people IT employs and
how much IT employees earn.
Workload/complexity includes:
Application complexity. Are applications simple
desktop software packages or highly tailored and
custom-built?
Type of services. Is the IT help desk open only
Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., or does it
operate 24/7?
Resilience of IT. For example, are the company’s
systems extremely robust and able to handle high levels
of use?
Capturing cost and workload/complexity
data—completely and objectively—is critical. In the
Gartner experience, a strong correlation exists between
the level of workload and complexity in an
IT environment and its cost. Without both dimensions,
the picture is incomplete. The other vital step: Do a
peer comparison.
Step Two: Assessing Process Maturity
Mature processes combine the right people and tools for
a strong, reliable IT function. They enable the efficient
delivery of services that meet the expectations of the
business units.
For each IT process, using standard frameworks, three
key aspects are evaluated:
Technology. The technology tools used to manage
the process. For example, is the process managed by one
person with a stand-alone PC and spreadsheet software
or by a fully automated system that requires minimal
manual intervention?
Organization. The number of people working on the
process and their responsibilities. How clearly are their
roles defined? What are the duties of the process owners?
How is accountability measured and ensured?
BRAD YEO
Step Three: Assessing Risk
Business risk and IT risk are assessed in two ways:
What will it cost? If applications or parts of the company’s IT infrastructure were
disabled for a period of time, what cost would be incurred? Obviously, this varies
by industry. If a shipbuilding company’s systems go down for 24 hours, it’s not a
catastrophe. If the same thing happens at an investment bank, it could be.
Are you prepared? This refers to the company’s disaster recovery plan: how it
responds if systems and data go down. Included is the business continuity plan: how the
company stays in business during the recovery process. The two must align. If business
continuity gets the company through a 24-hour outage but the disaster recovery plan
spans 48 hours, there’s an obvious problem.
Step Four: Aligning IT With the Business Goals
The final step in the process is determining whether the IT budget is being used to
produce true business value.
Every business has a vision that can be quantified by numbers such as revenue targets,
stock price and market share. This vision is supported by an infrastructure—buildings,
people, machinery and other assets—that enables the business to achieve the vision.
The IT organization develops the applications—like supply chain management
software and customer relationship management solutions—that support the business’s
infrastructure. Those applications are, in turn, supported by an IT infrastructure of
hardware, operating systems, wiring and IT personnel.
To determine whether the IT group is developing applications that really are
supporting the business infrastructure, Gartner normally has the CIO and other senior
executives participate in an interactive workshop. The results are almost always revealing
and valuable.
The Lean, Mean Machine
For IT organizations to drive new value for their businesses, they must first optimize

Process. The robustness of the process and how well it operations. The “machine” must be reliable and efficient at a cost that makes sense to
is documented. senior management. It must be visibly earning a return on investment.

gartner know-how | 21
commodities that should be as cheap as possible, or at
least a fixed cost. Concurrently, and largely because of
this trend, many CIOs have lost their seat at the executive
committee table. So they’re struggling to optimize the
cost and the value of IT.
What Gartner can do is help those CIOs get back their
influence—their seat at the table—by optimizing the
transaction costs within their infrastructure and making
that infrastructure the agent of business growth. If you
were to ask me our primary goal at Gartner Consulting,
that would be it: Help the CIO succeed.
How can non-clients get a taste of what
Gartner Consulting offers without a large
financial commitment? An IT optimization
assessment is probably the best way. We come in for a
couple of weeks and do an overall assessment of the IT
environment. We show clients their strengths compared
to others in the field and in other industries, and we show
them where they need improvement. They get a portfolio
of improvement initiatives that can be implemented
partially by themselves and partially with our support—
keeping in mind that Gartner Consulting doesn’t do
hardware or software implementations. We offer advice
only. That’s a big part of our value to clients. There’s no
vested interest beyond the client’s success.
How can existing clients go deeper with
Gartner Consulting to get greater benefit
from the relationship? Many clients meet with a
Gartner consultant and analyst to gather insight, but they
often don’t go the next step, which is to make Gartner
a critical part of the execution and the management of
a solution. I think Gartner is often viewed as a research
company that mostly provides information.
With a number of “partner-clients” we are also a trusted advisor. We help them
execute and manage important changes on a daily basis. We help clients establish a
program management office to put in place the governance required to ensure success
of their projects. We help them negotiate their customer and vendor contracts to
ensure win-win relationships. We help them implement a sourcing strategy that
aligns with the company’s overall vision in the marketplace. We help them transform
underperforming organizations into optimized “tools” that drive value through
the enterprise.
Do your clients earn a high return on their investment in Gartner
Consulting? Almost always. And almost always many times over. All of the types
of assignments I just mentioned have potentially huge paybacks. In general, when you
invest to accelerate change in the right direction, you normally increase revenues or at
least efficiencies, which translates into saved costs. Risk management is a big part of
what we do. With over 60 percent of all large-scale IT initiatives failing, having Gartner
with you for execution and management is like having an insurance policy.
Consultants can be accused of insensitivity to bottom-line results. How
is Gartner different? Critical thinking and financial analytics run through Gartner
Consulting. They are a major part of our training, and we are investing significantly in
training. We have also instituted a certification program that requires our consultants
to go through multitiered programs in our various competencies, such as engagement
management, financial analytics, program management, security, strategic sourcing
and benchmarking—all with an eye to the bottom line.
Gartner Symposium/ITxpo is focused this time on conquering
complexity. How does Gartner Consulting help clients do that?
Critical Program Management is certainly in keeping with conquering complexity.
It’s all about reducing the complexity of multiple initiatives through a governance
structure that takes the “noise” out of the system, creates the synergies and aligns
the objectives to achieve results.
On a more general level, our job is to bring clarity to clients. Clarity is a
weapon against complexity. The clarity we bring to client engagements through
research and best practices is a huge advantage when fighting complexity in
technology today. ■

Critical Program Insurance That’s a Bargain

Is program supervision a luxury most companies can’t
afford? On the contrary, it’s a relatively inexpensive form
Management: of insurance that anyone undertaking a major IT initiative
probably can’t afford to do without. Consider:

Aligning for Success • Sixty-six percent of large-scale projects fail to

Critical Program Management is a growing trend that’s long
overdue. With major IT initiatives failing at an alarming rate,
qualified third-party program supervision is a small price to
pay when the downside is so steep. Gartner Consulting is
uniquely qualified to help.
One of the more vivid examples of what can happen when a major IT initiative goes
wrong is the case of a large manufacturer that decided to implement a new enterprise
resource planning (ERP) solution just before an important shipping season. The
problem: Employees were not adequately trained. To the horror of the company’s
business leaders, there were countless shipping errors, millions lost and a very public
embarrassment.
The disaster could have been avoided had the company’s IT executives opted
for Critical Program Management, a simple concept that can have huge benefits.
Usually implemented as a “project office,” Critical Program Management provides
formalized, holistic supervision of a crucial project, usually by a third-party expert
who oversees all the complexities and ensures that the project not only remains on
track from start to finish but also delivers the intended business results.
achieve their stated business objectives, are delivered late
or are substantially over budget. (Standish Group)
• “Through 2008, IS organizations without stringent
risk-assessment procedures and mitigation plans will
cancel at least 10 percent of all projects initially budgeted
at more than $200,000 and at least 20 percent of all
projects.” (Gartner Research)
• “Through 2008, three out of four successful
$500,000+ projects will be planned and tracked with
project office support … while three of four failed
projects will not.” (Gartner Research)
Add the cost of disaster recovery. In the cases of four
major enterprises studied by Gartner Research, project
reworks cost from 30 percent to 40 percent of total project
cost. Compound that by the number of projects that make
up the 66 percent that have failed. The risk is real. The cost
is potentially enormous.
Bigger Programs, Bigger Risks
The need for Critical Program Management has grown
because the stakes are getting higher. The need to drive
business results using IT has elevated investments in

22 | gartner know-how
technology. And implementations like CRM and major
infrastructure overhauls for e-commerce or real-time
supply chain are mission-critical. They can make or
break a company’s ability to remain competitive.
Gartner is responsible for the upper layer of
quality control that such a high level of performance
requires. “We’re not really managing the program,”
says Ruth Steinberg, managing vice president of
the Gartner Critical Program Management practice,
“that’s the job of the business sponsor. But he’s not a
program manager by training. He’s an executive. He’s
the right person to be managing the program but not
the right person to be worrying about the individual
project schedules or how to get it all done.”
Under Water
Many executives put in charge of complex IT
projects are not trained to manage the vast flow
of details. Or they might be experts in one part of
the job but not others. A senior finance executive,
for example, might be in the best position to ensure
the P&L is correct but may fail to see the warning
signs of a major logjam in applications programming
or operations. Likewise, a technology executive may
be a great project manager because he or she knows
the technologies and has the project management
skills, but might not be equipped to navigate
internal politics.
Competing priorities also derail enterprise-level
initiatives. Multinational companies, multicampus
universities and multiagency governments will
invariably run into conflicts between the local
and “corporate” parts of the whole.
“What we provide is visibility when those
competing objectives will hurt a program,” says
Steinberg. “We make the issues come to light in
a politically astute and politically correct way, so
that they can be handled and managed and properly
accounted for so they don’t stall the program.”
Six Proven Ways to Fail
There are many reasons a major IT project can fail.
According to Gartner, these are the six most common:
Fog. No one is clear on the goals and objectives of
the initiative. The project crawls along like a ship in an
iceberg field, at night, in a fog.
Novice in the cockpit. This is the accidental
appointee or a first-time program manager, or someone
who appears to have the needed skills but really has
only some. The missing ones, such as dealing with
vendors or controlling costs, might be crucial.
Quicksand. Decisions aren’t made. Getting
people to sign off is like pulling molars. For example,
consultants might help a company design a new data
center or a new business process. Everyone agrees
at a meeting that it’s a go. The consultant writes
up the design. But nobody wants to put his or her
name on it. So the consultant is forced to choose
between waiting on the client’s signatures or moving
forward based on assumptions that may be off track.
Quicksand.
Premature haste. The deadline is an obsession.
All else takes a backseat. This happens frequently in
government. A system must be in place before an election
or before a certain date. Rushing almost always leads to
bad decisions and sloppy work.
Cowboy culture. A hot new programming manager
or junior executive looking to make his or her mark
steps forward and says, “Let me do this. I can handle it.”
The planning is minimal. Teamwork and consensus-building are nonexistent.
Success is unlikely.
Homelessness. The project has no clear ownership. This happens often with
multibusiness unit or multiagency initiatives. With no central authority, the project
is led by committee. Big risk.
The Objective Eye
Why not simply appoint a project office manager from inside the company?
“The challenge,” says Steinberg, “is, first, finding program-management skill
in-house and, second, ensuring it’s free of conflict or self-interest. Big, complex
initiatives are often once-in-a-career-type programs. They include many systems
integrators or outsourcing vendors, a blizzard of detail and the continual need to
solve problems that bubble to the surface unexpectedly. The needed skills are seldom
a core competency found in IT organizations. Half the time, inside people can’t even
tell they are in difficulty until it’s too late. And every internal person brings his or
her own personal goals and aspirations, and they are limited by their own singular
knowledge base.
“A third party like Gartner brings fresh eyes and many minds. We bring
an independent perspective—independent of the vendors and the client. It’s a
necessary neutrality. Our job is to watch the whole program, and we can because
of our scale and scope. In fact, no one else in the market can do it the same way.
No other consultancy has the breadth of technical knowledge combined with
Gartner independence. The strategy firms may have independence but lack the
technical depth. The system integrators have the technical capabilities but not the
independence. For instance, if you engage one systems integrator to oversee another
systems integrator’s project, there’s an inherent conflict of interest. As a competitor,
its purpose may be to find fault with the other systems integrator’s work. That’s not
our business model. There’s no absolute right or wrong, there is only how to do it
better. And to pinpoint the best way to do it better, we have the great advantage of our
proprietary database of best practices, our extensive benchmarking and, of course, the
unmatched resources of Gartner Research.”
Steinberg points out that Gartner never wants to “own” a program or take it over
(unless asked). As advisors, Gartner Consulting augments the client team with a team
of experts matched to the needs of the program, be it ERP, Web development, data
center consolidation, merger integration or any other type of program. “Our goal is
not to be the star,” says Steinberg, “but to make a star of the inside project manager.”
ROI: Through Every Phase
Does Critical Program Management always pay a return? Yes, if you avoid purchasing
expensive hardware and software that you don’t need. Yes, if you avoid incurring the
thousands spent on reworking applications. Yes, if you avoid wasting six months, like
one state government did recently, on an incorrect RFP. Or, yes, if you overlook subtle
but profitable efficiencies through every phase of the project, or don’t benchmark
your performance once you’ve finished.
“Let’s talk about financial management,” says Steinberg. “In the strategy phase of
a project, Gartner can help baseline your costs. Over the course of the project, we can
track your savings. Imagine you want to consolidate 30 data centers down to six. We
can baseline the current costs, help you put the consolidation plan together, oversee
the project and manage the vendor that’s doing it, ensuring they stay on track and on
budget, implementing the right solutions. We also benchmark performance. If, over
the course of the project, you find you are not generating the savings expected, we can
work with you to take immediate corrective action. Then we can review performance
six months later and one year later to prove that the savings took place. That kind of
‘delivering on promises’ generates massive goodwill with the company’s business
leadership, with the customers and with investors.”
What does Critical Program Management with Gartner cost? “When we oversee
a large program, our fees may range from 1 percent to 5 percent of the total budget,”
says Steinberg. “Not a big touch when the savings can be in the multimillions.”
Accountability, Visibility, Predictability
Critical Program Management is gaining ground fast, particularly in government
where cost sensitivity runs high. A number of government organizations at the U.S.
state and federal levels have mandated third-party project supervision. But it’s still
not common practice in large companies because, as Steinberg says, “people still feel
like they can do it themselves—despite the risks.
“Our position is that you don’t have to go it alone, and it will almost always pay
not to. Bring us in, and we’ll show you the benefits of third-party Critical Program
Management: accountability, visibility, predictability, consistency, problems avoided,
money saved, ultimate success. Who can argue with that?”
gartner know-how | 23
 landscape view

Gartner operates dozens of

events across the world every
year, led by Symposium/ITxpo.
These events provide the live view
of all the Company’s resources.
We asked Alister Christopher,
senior vice president of Gartner
Events, how our events differ
from others and why attendees
keep coming back for more.

What are the priorities of the attendees who come to Gartner events?
Three things primarily: 1) Am I evaluating and deploying the right technologies and
processes for my business to grow? 2) Am I partnering with the right technology
providers to help execute on that? 3) What do I need to know or pay attention to in
the near future? Those are the things that seem to rise to the top of the priority list
at our events.
Attendees come to find the information and technology solutions they need to grow
their businesses or better serve their customers. And we try to build an environment and
facilitate the right kind of information-exchange forums to allow them to achieve those
goals. For example, we partner with leading technology providers as event sponsors,
so that attendees can access the information they need from these providers in the
most productive way possible. And all events feature attendee/analyst One-on-One
sessions, where attendees confer privately with Gartner analysts and consultants on their
particular needs.

How do you know if you’re successful in meeting attendees’ needs at

JIM FRAZIER | IMAGES.COM

Gartner events? We measure satisfaction in many ways. At the highest level, the
number of attendees at our events has been growing year over year, and our growth is
outpacing the rest of the IT events industry, so those are clearly trends that indicate
value delivered.
At a more granular level, we solicit feedback extensively from our attendees
both onsite and post-event through the event evaluation process. At our European
gartner know-how | 25
“For any organization considering a relationship with Gartner,
there’s simply no better way to evaluate their position than
coming to see us in real life. What we deliver at an event is the
experience of being a Gartner client.”
What’s the Difference?
There are three types of Gartner events:
Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, Gartner Technology
Summits and Gartner Vision Events. Here are
the differences:
Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, our flagship
event, is held twice a year for six days.
Attendees choose from hundreds of sessions
that span the depth and breadth of enterprise
IT. The conference experience also includes
access to ITxpo, an IT solutions and services
showcase where delegates meet leading IT
solutions providers in a low-hype environment.
Gartner Technology Summits are focused
on specific topics such as security, wireless
technology, outsourcing and more. They include
presentations at technology showcases from
Gartner analysts and respected keynotes from
the leading minds in the IT industry.
Gartner Vision Events are highly focused,
business-intensive events that bring together
leading vendors and senior-level decision
makers who attend by invitation. One-on-One
meetings are arranged. Gartner advice is
provided by attending analysts. The intention
is for users and solutions providers to form
mutually beneficial strategic partnerships.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Alister Christopher
Age 44
Family Married to Karin for 22 years. Children:
Joseph, 17, and Caitlin, 13
Education Studied business management at
Swansea College
Position(s) Gartner: Sales executive; district
manager; measurement specialist; vice president,
EMEA Sales operations; vice president, inside
sales, EMEA; group vice president, inside sales,
North America; group vice president, Sales, EMEA;
senior vice president, Events
Companies Most Admired Southwest Airlines, for
putting the client first and having fun doing it. And
Starbucks, for getting me through the day!
26 | gartner know-how
Symposium/ITxpo last November in Cannes, by way of example, 96 percent of
attendees who returned evaluations said that we either achieved or exceeded their
expectations.
In addition, members of my leadership team are always onsite at an event to
gather feedback from our attendees and sponsors, and we welcome and take action
on feedback that comes to us through other channels, such as our analysts and
Gartner account executives.
Attendee satisfaction is the real pulse of our business, so we never take our finger
off of that pulse.
What, in addition to Symposium/ITxpo, does Gartner Events offer? We
go to market with three very distinct brands. The Symposium/ITxpo series is seven
events across five geographies. That’s where people get the most up-to-date Gartner
insight across many technology areas. The second brand is our Gartner Technology
Summits. Each of these drill-down conferences revolves around a hot topic, so
Gartner analysts can delve into more detail on issues we know are of interest to the
attendees, such as business intelligence, outsourcing, security, business process
management and many others. The third one is our Gartner Vision Events, where we
invite technology providers and buyers, and we create an environment where they
can do business together in a very informed way.
What do attendees take away from Gartner events? We are very content-
driven. We create an environment rich in insight and education based around
Gartner’s rigorous, independent research. There’s future-looking content that
people want for strategizing. There’s also plenty of practical, real-world content.
For example, best practices sessions and case studies are part of every Gartner event.
These are the cases of organizations that have used specific technologies for growth
and competitive advantage. This is how other companies like you, with the same
issues and pressures and goals you have, have leveraged technology in a way that you
might find useful.
In addition, attendees can bring their own specific challenges and have them
addressed one to one with Gartner analysts. Plus, there’s plenty of opportunity to
network and exchange information—with other attendees, with Gartner analysts
Book You Read Most Recently “Feel: Robbie Williams,”
Chris Heath
Book You’re Currently Reading “Blue Ocean Strategy:
How to Create Uncontested Market Space and
Make Competition Irrelevant,” W. Chan Kim, Renée
Mauborgne
Recent Movie Seen “The Terminal”
Major Business Influences The people in my
organization and profitable revenue growth!
Major Personal Influences My family and my father,
who gave me two values: Do everything you do with
integrity, and show respect to everyone you meet in
your life
Favorite Saying “You don’t get what you want in life, you
get what you expect. So set your expectations high”
 Networking
or ‘Notworking’?
Events like Symposium/ITxpo are promoted as
great places to network. But you have to know how.
Very few of us are born to it. It’s something you learn
through practice.
Effective networking is about establishing
relationships, not just putting yourself in front of people.
Success, at a conference like Symposium/ITxpo, is
measured not by how many business cards you hand out
but by how many meaningful conversations you have.
The goal is to establish mutual benefit and create a seed of
trust that you can grow later.
Networking is a “soft skill,” and the rules are somewhat
flexible (they change, for example, the more senior your
position). Here are some valuable tips to practice and some
classic faux pas.
Be prepared. Networking is a process, not a goal. The
first step is to prepare yourself. Review your reasons for
attending the conference. Practice how you will introduce
yourself to people and the questions you might ask them.
Some advisors say you should create a 30-second personal Be interesting. Don’t bore people with endless shoptalk. Be ready to talk about things
infomercial. And have plenty of business cards on hand. in your life that sincerely mean something to you and might inspire personal responses
Faux pas: If you forget your cards, forget networking. from others—family, sports, new ideas. Keep it light but authentic. Have a point of view.
Be on the ball. Talking to strangers is one of the Ask questions that will lead to mutually interesting dialogue: “What do you think are
things people dislike intensely. But there’s some the implications of that session/speech?” “What interesting projects are you working
comfort in knowing that almost everyone feels equally on?” “What is your firm doing about [subject]?” “What do you like most about your
uncomfortable. Find someone else who looks like you work?” Faux pas: controlling the conversation by overwhelming the listener with a
feel, then break the ice smoothly with something like: barrage of questions.
“How’s the conference working out for you?” It will be Be sociable. At conference meals, try to sit with people you don’t know, and with
easier from that moment on. Faux pas: hanging out only different groups at each meal. Take advantage of scheduled social events. They are often a
with people you know. more relaxed place to meet people. Faux pas: hiding in your room.
Be impressive. Your body language is vitally Be generous. Be nice to everyone, not just to those you feel might be useful to you.
important. Be confident but not brash, open but not Think of networking as an opportunity to help the people you meet. Find out what
falsely so. Pronounce your name clearly. Make eye contact. their challenges are and what they hope to accomplish. Tell them what you’ve found
Open your stance. Lean forward to show interest. Nod in out that might be useful. Share the names of contacts you’ve made. Likewise, be clear
agreement to show empathy and understanding. Smile on what you want to get out of the conference and ask if they have any advice for you.
frequently. Faux pas: looking around the room while Faux pas: complaining.
you are talking to someone.
Know when to walk. Know when to end the conversation and move on. First-time
Be interested. Interesting people are interested in conversations should generally not exceed 10 minutes. Monopolizing someone’s time is
others. They are attentive listeners. They put their own bad form. You can always meet up later if the connection warrants it. Be prepared with
agenda aside and focus on their new acquaintance. an elegant exit, such as “I know you’re here to meet new people, so I won’t take up all
Listen to the full answer of the other person. Try hard of your time” or “I enjoyed meeting you.” Or, “Perhaps we’ll see each other after the
to learn more about them. Offer helpful suggestions. [event].” Faux pas: clinging to someone past your expiry time.
Show interest by asking things like, “What have you
Follow through. Lots of earnest networkers get home and don’t make the time to
JOYCE HESSELBERTH | IMAGES.COM

liked best so far?” or “Who are you hoping to connect

follow up, so a large stack of business cards just rots on their desk. Make some post-
with here?” (Maybe you can help.) Or, “What do you
conference time on your calendar for follow-up with personalized e-mails or phone
hope to take home from this event?” Faux pas: talking
calls. One enterprising idea: a well-crafted (unpretentious) e-mail newsletter that is
only about yourself.
slightly personalized for every contact. By following up, you inch potentially valuable
relationships along. Faux pas: mailing a bunch of product collateral with a hastily
scribbled note.
Remember, networking is about relationships. Go slow. Be genuine. Make friends.
Let the benefits flow naturally from the friendships, as they always do.

gartner know-how | 27
 Gartner has added four new events this year.

Business Process Management Summit

6 – 7 June 2005, Arlington, Virginia, U.S.A.
This two-track conference will help business users,
application developers and architects understand the
business opportunities of BPM. Gartner analysts will
discuss the latest technology and best practices for
providing rapid response. Sixteen sessions will be led by
12 leading experts and practitioners. Keynotes include
MIT professor Tom Malone, process guru Steven Stanton
and change management expert Jeff Hiatt. Also included:
solutions demonstrations from more than 20 leading BPM
vendors.

Financial Services Technology Summit

29 – 31 August 2005, New York, New York, U.S.A.
A comprehensive three-day conference for IT executives
in the financial services industry and their business
counterparts. The focus will be on strategic planning and
tactical advice in banking, investments and insurance.
Join Gartner analysts, industry experts and technology
providers for a highly informative discussion of the state of
IT in the financial services industry, a view of the future and
what it will take to be prepared.

Energy Utilities IT Summit

26 – 28 September 2005, Austin, Texas, U.S.A.
This summit provides you insight and analysis on the
myriad business and technology issues across the entire
utility value chain. Both IT and operational executives
will benefit from hearing Gartner analysts explore issues
ranging from generation to transmission to distribution

New in
to retail. Some of the key technology areas featured
include CIS/billing and information security, as well as
key energy-specific technologies encompassing the
arena of utility automation systems, including SCADA,

2005
AMR and wireless monitoring.

Enterprise Planning and Architecture Strategies

Seminars
14 – 15 June 2005, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
23 – 24 June 2005, Amsterdam, Netherlands
6 – 7 October 2005, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
To optimize the overall performance of their enterprise
portfolios, business and IT executives in leading
organizations are increasingly turning to key management
disciplines—such as portfolio management, enterprise
strategy and planning, enterprise program management
and enterprise architecture—to achieve pervasive
business and IT integration. These two-day seminars
provide the educational foundation of the enterprise
architecture process model and the details for planning
and running actionable enterprise architecture initiatives.

28 | gartner know-how
 and with leading technology providers.
Our goal is to enable attendees to leave our events with a list of actions,
confirmations and changes in the direction they are taking with their organizations.

How do Gartner events differ from other IT events? No other IT events

have the depth and breadth of content that we do. That’s what IT professionals
Symposium/
want for their investment of money and days out of the office. The majority of our
attendees are time- and budget-constrained now, relative to the late 1990s, and
ITxpo:
they’re very discriminating and focused about what they want to accomplish at an
industry event.
Six Tips for
And for our sponsor partners, the big, sprawling shows have lost their value
proposition because technology providers naturally say, “We don’t want to pay big
Doing It Right
money and spend time with the undifferentiated masses of people walking past
our booth. What we want are business people, decision makers and influencers
who we can talk to on a meaningful level.” The Gartner Events model drives
exactly that kind of productive interaction.

Why is the ITxpo showfloor so subdued? It’s designed that way—to be 1 Get comfortable. Wear
comfortable shoes, and
businesslike. We build the booths for the technology providers so they can’t turn
up with elevators to install and glamour girls in short dresses, as happens at other layer your clothing.
events that allow such things. We ban all that stuff. The priority is information

2
exchange and learning. Our attendees value that. They tell us they appreciate
meeting with the technology providers in an uncluttered, low-hype environment. Plan ahead. Spend your
first day onsite planning
Do your events differ across the world? You have to look at each of the
three brands we talked about. What we’re seeing with Symposium/ITxpo is a
your agenda for the
very powerful brand. All versions across the world are very healthy. With the week. Use the Gartner
Summits, we’re launching eight new events worldwide, either leveraging events
we know have done well in one region or launching the same type of event in new
interactive kiosks to
geographies. For example, we’re launching a Mobile & Wireless event in EMEA build your agenda online
this year, as well as a Data Center event. In Australia, we’re launching a Security using the Agenda Builder
event. Hot topics tend to incite demand.
Tool.
How are you changing Gartner events to meet client needs? Content
is always changing. While our events are successful, we have to keep them really
fresh and really focused on the hottest issues. To do that, we work in very close 3 Network online. Use
the interactive kiosks
collaboration with Gartner Research. Every one of our events has an event chair
and co-chair who is actually a Gartner analyst. They help us build the content and to connect with other
the focus.
attendees and access
What about Gartner Executive Programs? How does it fit with your the Internet.
events? I think last fall in Orlando we had more than 700 CIOs at Symposium/

4
ITxpo, which is probably the largest single gathering of CIOs in the industry. Many
of them are members of Gartner Executive Programs. Our events are a place to
Arrive early. Get
not only learn from Gartner analysts and consultants but to meet and confer with to popular sessions
peers—your community within the larger community of Symposium/ITxpo
attendees.
early to get a good
We’ve also created something unique at Symposium/ITxpo for our loyal public seat, especially at lead
sector folks. At the Orlando event, we create a community within a community for presentations.
them that features a designated area to gather and network, and breakfast briefings
focused on their issues. It seems to work very well for our public sector delegates.

One of the key selling points of Symposium/ITxpo and other Gartner

5 Go one on one. Book
your analyst One-on-
events is that they allow attendees to escape the mad rush of their
daily business lives. How important is that? That’s a big point. When Ones the day you arrive.
people make a conscious decision to take five days out of the office, they have the Some analysts book
freedom to sit back, draw a breath and think about things in a different way. To be
able to push your thinking forward like that isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity that too
up fast.
few professionals in busy work environments allow themselves.

Is Symposium/ITxpo a good way for IT people who are not Gartner 6 Lighten the load.
Have your conference
clients to taste and feel what Gartner has to offer? For any organization
considering a relationship with Gartner, there’s simply no better way to evaluate materials shipped back
their position than coming to see us in real life. What we deliver at an event is the
to your office by Gartner
ROBERT NEUBECKER

experience of being a Gartner client. You get access to the intellectual property and
the advice and the guidance. You get a good opportunity to find out if this is the at no charge.
kind of company you want to be involved with. Many people just read our reports.
Coming to a Gartner event gives you the amazing depth and prowess behind the
reports. It’s where everything comes alive. ■
gartner know-how | 29
 CIOs have perhaps the loneliest job in senior
management. They are often misunderstood
by their peers. They bear the full weight of
high expectations around the ever-changing
technology systems that drive business today.

tailor-made insight
Gartner Executive Programs exists to lift this
weight and help CIOs lead their teams and
collaborate with their business colleagues more
effectively. In this interview, Terry Waters, senior
vice president of Gartner Executive Programs,
JOHN BERRY | IMAGES.COM

explains why his group has become the world’s

largest CIO membership organization and the
fastest-growing Gartner business.
gartner know-how | 31
exp cio signature is an exclusive membership
program for the most senior IT executives at the
world’s largest enterprises. Designed to enhance
CIO productivity and professional development,
CIO Signature offers highly customized
membership privileges, access to strategic research
and true peer-group networking. Membership in
CIO Signature is reserved for senior IT executives
who meet all membership criteria.
exp premier is a preferential membership
program for top IT executives. The program offers
CIOs of medium-to-large public and private
enterprises preferred access to Gartner and the
opportunity to network with a diverse group of
CIOs who share similar issues and challenges.
best practices councils are offered in North
America and Europe to senior functional IT leaders
who report to the CIO. The Councils combine case
profile analysis with best practices research and
facilitated peer-to-peer exchanges.
cio academy is professional development at
the highest level, designed for CIOs and direct
reports. Removed from the tactical concerns of the
workplace, participants focus on strategic change
management, personal productivity and the critical
alignment of technology and business. The learning
is highly personal and satisfyingly practical,
customized to the needs of each participant. The
goals are for participants to share their challenges,
elevate their thinking and return to their enterprises
with a renewed perspective and tailored action plan
for success.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Terry Waters
Age 46
Education Bachelor of arts, College of the
Holy Cross
Position(s) Gartner: senior vice president and
general manager, Executive Programs; senior
vice president, Best Practices; senior vice
president, IT Executive Programs; vice president,
Worldwide Marketing; regional vice president,
Sales; Screaming Media: chief operating officer;
Xerox: product specialist
Companies Most Admired General Electric,
Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, McKinsey, Bloomberg
Book You Read Most Recently “Undaunted Courage:
Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the
Opening of the American West,” Stephen Ambrose
32 | gartner know-how
What’s the value proposition of Gartner Executive Programs? The mission
of Gartner Executive Programs is to be the indispensable partner and advisor to CIOs
and senior IT executives on every important technology and technology-enabled
business decision. CIOs in large corporations and government agencies have immense
responsibility and few road maps for solving complex management and technology
challenges. Through an Executive Programs membership, Gartner research and advice
are tailored specifically to each member’s issues and challenges, and our network of more
than 3,000 executives makes it possible for us to facilitate valuable connections between
members for mutual counsel. Gartner Executive Programs enables CIOs in leading
enterprises to solve complex business problems, provides members with exclusive
research written specifically to their issues and prepares CIOs to bridge the gap between
technology initiatives and business results.
What are the membership options in Executive Programs? There are three
membership options. Gartner EXP CIO Signature is tailor-made for the CIO of a large
corporation and is a very personalized service. Signature program managers are former
CIOs who provide trusted advice to CIO members. EXP Premier is for CIOs dealing
more with operational issues and looking for answers and preferential access to Gartner
research experts. The program is focused on Global 4000 and government agency CIOs
and CTOs, and provides a combination of member-driven research, community-based
peer exchange and expert advice. Gartner Best Practices Councils provide a combination
of case study-based content and topically based peer exchange for senior IT executives
reporting directly to the CIO, such as heads of architecture, security and sourcing. At all
levels, Gartner Executive Programs is focused on the success of the individual members,
their teams and how they can contribute to the success of their enterprise.
What is the ROI of Gartner Executive Programs for its members? First, our
members are able to make smarter decisions more rapidly around complex IT and business
management issues by using Gartner expertise, case studies and peer advice. We save them
time and money by facilitating access to the resources they need when they need them.
Peer counsel is especially valuable. We constantly have members come to us and say, “I
need to talk to another member who’s gone through this before.” We can usually connect
them not only with another member, but with someone from an organization of similar
size and complexity with a similar issue. They get very relevant information and advice,
very quickly, from a peer.
Second, they can quickly access the Gartner worldwide research engine of tenured
analysts and subject-matter experts. We can put them in touch with an expert who can
cast a bright light on a particular issue. We can also provide them access to vast databases
of content that can help them make the best possible decisions for their enterprise.
A third way Executive Programs helps members receive value is through coaching
and professional development. Our program directors in CIO Signature, who are ex-
CIOs themselves, have walked in the same shoes as our members and can work with
Book You’re Currently Reading “Good to Great:
Why Some Companies Make the Leap ... and
Others Don’t,” Jim Collins
Recent Movies Seen “Ray, ” “Friday Night
Lights,” “Mystic River,” “Man on Fire”
Major Business Influences Peter Drucker,
Xerox SPIN sales training, Jack Welch, Gideon
Gartner
Major Personal Influences Family, friends, the
Jesuits at Holy Cross, Boy Scouts of America
Favorite Web Sites wsj.com, yahoo.com,
forbes.com
Favorite Saying “What would you attempt to do
if you knew you could not fail?”
them one on one to advise them on their most pressing issues.
Membership in Executive Programs is geared toward enabling members to make the
best possible decisions in a rapidly changing environment. We make it easy for members
to leverage all aspects of the program: member-driven content, peer networking and
expert advice tailored to their unique needs.
What separates Gartner Executive Programs from other similar
programs? There are three things that differentiate us substantially from any of our
competitors. One: the Gartner research engine, which includes more than 1,000 subject
experts, including Gartner analysts and consultants, with more than 10,000 collective
years of experience. Two: the largest CIO network in the world, with more than 3,000
members actively participating. And three: the 210 professionals within Executive
Programs who have more than 1,000 collective years of experience advising CIOs and
senior IT executives around the world. All three of those considerable advantages are
brought to bear for the personal benefit of each individual member. That’s a powerful
and distinct value proposition that all of our members benefit from when they need it.
So there’s nothing similar in the marketplace? No. One similar program is
about one-third our size, but they only provide some of the value via case studies from
the membership and peer networking. We bring so much more to the table: Gartner
expertise and depth of content, including frameworks, templates and case studies; the
size of our member network; our dedicated team of professionals; and our program
management that ensures outstanding relationship management for all our members.
Executive Programs almost sounds like an inexpensive form of consulting.
Gartner Executive Programs brings together a unique blend of capabilities to deliver real
value for our members. Each program is a hybrid of member-driven multiclient studies,
expert advice and peer exchange. We are delivering specialized advice syndicated
“Our members are able to
make smarter decisions more
rapidly around complex IT
and business management
issues by using Gartner
expertise, case studies and
peer advice.”
across our membership in the same way a management
consultant might bring advice to a select group of clients
or an individual client.
Executive Programs is one of the fastest
growing units at Gartner. Why? The service is
authentically valuable, the convenience appeals to time-
pressed members and the content is extremely relevant
because it’s member-driven. Our members tell us their
issues, and we put our team of 210 professionals to work
to help them maximize the ROI from their membership.
Our member-driven process comes to life most vividly
in our annual CIO survey. Done at the end of every year,
it sets our research agenda and program delivery for the
following year. This past year, more than 1,300 CIOs
gave us input about their major business initiatives,
management challenges and technology programs. We’ve
taken that input … and our goal is to deliver fresh insight
and advice by industry sector, by business segment and
by geography to each individual member over the course
of 2005.
What were the key issues cited for 2005? The top
three issues cited were delivering projects that enable
business growth, linking business and IT strategies and
plans, and demonstrating the business value of IT.
CIOs want to get more involved with corporate
strategy, rather than be the head of a service
function that simply implements strategy.
How does Gartner Executive Programs help
them do that? What we do is help align what CIOs
are trying to do in the context of what their business is
asking them to do. There is great focus on projects tied
to business growth. Our job is to support a CIO to be
successful personally, with his or her team, and with his
or her key business stakeholders. Part of this mission is to
deliver insight on how the CIO can best work with peers
and build a better relationship with the CEO. CIOs are
involved in, and in some cases driving, some aspects of
corporate strategy.
More and more, IT is woven into the fabric of business
operations. With this said, we have observed that some
CIOs are losing their footing in the senior leadership
teams of big companies. However, this depends on the
industry, sector and size of the company. Generally, we’ve
found that many CIOs did, indeed, lose some ground
with regards to being involved in corporate strategy,
post-bubble.
In the past 18 months, CIOs have been regaining
ground, as enterprises have been upgrading their
infrastructure and trying to move toward important
IT-enabled strategies, such as real-time enterprise and
business process fusion, which are technology-dependent
and very strategic. We continue to see an interesting
demographic shift: About half of the CIOs being hired
and/or promoted into the role are coming out of the
business side of the enterprise vs. rising up through the
traditional IT ranks. This is significant and should help
with aligning business and IT strategy in the years ahead.
The CIO has a lonely job. It can be very lonely. In
a profession where the demands are high, changes are
constant, yet understanding of IT’s complexity within
other parts of the enterprise is fairly low, we offer much-
needed support, advice and connection. While all CIOs
have their own personal network, through Gartner
Executive Programs members have access to a much
wider network. Through their membership, CIOs are
gartner know-how | 33
always in touch with what other CIO members are
doing. They have a sounding board for their ideas—an
insurance policy to support the risky environment
they live in every day. Even the CIO who doesn’t
want to directly connect with peers benefits from the
network through our research agenda and access to
Gartner analyst expertise. We are constantly mining
the network, our content and the Gartner analysts for
new insights for the benefit of all our members.

Is there a way for nonmembers to sample

the power of Executive Programs prior
to joining? Absolutely. We produce executive
summaries of our research publications, and we’re
happy to share those with prospective members.
We also run events for qualified prospects in major
metropolitan areas around the world, as well as at
our major conferences. And after we’ve met with a
prospective member, if appropriate, we do our best
to connect him or her to members in the network. He
or she can talk openly to a peer who can explain the
benefits of a program membership. Finally, we often
get prospective members working one on one on a
specific issue with a program director. This way they
can see the benefit of our program team at work.

Gartner CIO Survey:

What about existing members? How can
they better leverage your services? The
biggest opportunity lies within the network:
facilitated networking with other executives around
the world, attending our events to meet with peers,
learning from other members, as well as learning
from Gartner experts. Also, CIOs are increasingly
looking for us to help them with their IT leadership
teams—to develop their agenda, to strengthen
their management bench, to move the entire team
forward in unison. Finally, we believe we can help
our CIO members tighten their alignment with
key business stakeholders, such as the CFO, COO
and CEO, by providing them with the tools and
techniques for communicating the value of IT.
Conquering complexity: How, through
Executive Programs, are your members
able to do that well? As I said at the beginning
of this interview, CIOs in large corporations and
government agencies have immense responsibility
and few road maps for solving complex management
and technology challenges. Through an Executive
Programs membership, Gartner research and advice
are tailored specifically to each member’s issues and
challenges, and our network of more than 3,000
executives makes it possible for us to facilitate
valuable connections between members for
mutual counsel.
Gartner Executive Programs enables CIOs in
leading enterprises to solve complex business
problems, provides members with exclusive research
written specifically to their issues and prepares CIOs
to bridge the gap between technology initiatives and
business results. We make sure that we bring the best
of Gartner to each member’s particular issue—very
tailored, personalized and easy to use. We work with
The Big Picture
For the past five years, Gartner EXP has annually surveyed CIOs from every
continent to discover their behaviors and beliefs. It’s the largest survey of its kind.
More than 1,300 CIOs participated in this year’s survey. The result is the “CIO
Agenda,” an annual EXP report. These are some of the key questions answered in
Delivering IT’s Contribution: The 2005 CIO Agenda: What are the forces shaping the
business and technical context for 2005? What are the priorities for CIOs in 2005?
Where are CIOs investing their budgets and management attention? What are the
practices of performing CIOs? How does an individual CIO stack up against CIOs
overall? Their industry peers? CIOs in their geography? Here are some highlights:
Budgets Up After Four-Year Slump 2005 will be the first year of a marked
growth of computing expenses since 2001, the burst of the Internet bubble and
the beginning of cost reductions in most companies. Today’s priority lies in the
reinforcement of computing security systems.
Spending for Growth CIOs have changed their spending focus from projects
that help control costs to those that can help grow their business. Think security
enhancement tools and business intelligence software, for starters.
IT’s Business Contribution Increasing CIOs have become more central
in helping companies meet growth expectations, and IT investments are now
targeted at areas that drive profitability, such as re-engineering business processes
from a customer perspective. This trend will continue through 2008, as companies
strive to find new ways to stimulate growth.
A Need for Talent Staffing: CIOs cite staffing as a challenge in meeting new
IT goals. Just 39 percent of CIOs surveyed said that they currently have the right
people to meet present and future business demands.
Security Still a Priority Security issues such as viruses, hacking and malicious
use of information have not gone away. At the same time, new regulations such as
Sarbanes-Oxley mean that information security is a major priority.
JAMES YANG | IMAGES.COM

our members the way they want to work with us. We
work very hard to provide a combination of content,
advice and connections to add value and help them
move more quickly toward making the right decisions
for their enterprise. That sounds like conquering
complexity to me. ■
Top 5 Trends Impacting the Enterprise, According to CIOs 1. Business
process improvement 2. Security breaches and disruptions 3. Enterprisewide
operating systems 4. Supporting competitive advantage 5. Data protection
and privacy

34 | gartner know-how

The role of the CIO is inevitably changing
due to two perspectives on information
technology, according to Ellen Kitzis,
group vice president product management,
Research Business Development, and
Marianne Broadbent, senior vice president
and Gartner Fellow, Global Research
Business Strategy. On the one hand, there
is the lingering disaffection with IT from
the Internet bust, the technology capital
spending overhang, popular press stating that
IT is now irrelevant in competitive advantage
discussions and hysteria about IT jobs
moving overseas.
On the other hand, the global economy
seems to be finally escaping the doldrums,
business executives are desperate for
innovation, the regulatory environment has
put far more emphasis on the timeliness,
completeness and accuracy of corporate
information, and technology is playing a
foundational, if not a central, role in virtually
every product and service.
ROB DAY | IMAGES.COM
[ essential reading ]
CIOs at
the Crossroads
Broadbent says that for today’s CIOs, standing still is not an option: “Every CIO
will follow one of two paths based on these perspectives. The path influenced by the
view that sees IT as a commodity with no differentiation in use lays the foundation for
a role that might be called ‘chief technology mechanic.’ The other path, influenced by
the view that sees information and technology as the heart of every significant business
process and crucial to innovation and enterprise success, leads to a role we call ‘the new
CIO leader’; it’s a role with all the prestige, respect and responsibility of other senior
executive positions. It’s up to CIOs to help construct that path.”
Broadbent’s and Kitzis’s perspective is laid out in their book, “The New CIO Leader:
Setting the Agenda and Delivering Results,” from Harvard Business School Press. Kitzis
notes that the difference between the two paths, between chief technology mechanics
and new CIO leaders, is very simple: “It’s all about leadership. Most CIOs today are
excellent managers, but relatively few have stepped up to become leaders, true enterprise
leaders. And there is a crucial difference between leadership and management.”
Leadership is about change, doing new and different things. Management is about
executing well on the things you’re already doing. And if ever there was a time for IT
organizations and CIOs to think about doing new and different things, it’s now, says
Kitzis.
CIOs need to become enterprise leaders both on the demand-side and supply-side
of IT, the authors say. Broadbent explains, “There are really two aspects of leading
when you’re a CIO. First, you have to lead with your business colleagues to determine
what are the appropriate uses and applications of technology in the enterprise. This is
primarily about setting real and appropriate expectations for how technology can help
the enterprise reach its goals. It’s what we call the demand-side of IT. The supply-side
involves leading the IT group to deliver on the expectations of the business.”
Broadbent also notes that leadership in both of these areas is crucial for enterprise
success and crucial for the career prospects of any current CIO: “Enterprises desperately
need this leadership from CIOs now. And they will find it, if not from their current CIO
then from whomever they hire as a replacement.”
In “The New CIO Leader,” the authors introduce 10 critical points—divided into
demand-side and supply-side issues—that distinguish new CIO leaders. These 10 points
differentiate CIOs who will be enterprise leaders from those who won’t.
CIOs’ priorities among the top 10 will vary by their current situation, Kitzis says.
“Enterprises that are rapidly growing want their CIOs to focus on having a compelling
vision for how IT can help them continue to grow and succeed. Enterprises that are
struggling need CIOs to focus on building a better and leaner IT team. All CIOs who
want to be leaders, though, have to make knowing their enterprise inside and out a
top priority.”
gartner know-how | 35
 our story thus far ...
“Multisourcing: Moving Beyond Outsourcing
to Achieve Agility and Growth,” by Linda Cohen
and Allie Young
A new approach to a timely business issue from leading
experts in the field. Multisourcing presents a road map
managers can follow to move beyond simply outsourcing
and position their firms as tomorrow’s industry leaders.
Harvard Business School Press, Fall 2005

“The New CIO Leader: Setting the Agenda

and Delivering Results,” by Marianne Broadbent
and Ellen Kitzis
Mandatory reading for CIOs everywhere, “The New CIO
Leader” spells out how IT can deliver results that matter,
and how CIOs can become the enterprise leaders they
should be. Harvard Business School Press, 2004

“Heads Up: How to Anticipate Business Surprises

and Seize Opportunities First,” by Ken McGee
Real-time information will transform the business world,
and every manager has the power to make it happen.
Offering insights and tools that enable informed decision
making, “Heads Up” drives out uncertainty and ushers in
real-time opportunity. Harvard Business School Press, 2004

“Achieving Business Value From Technology:

A Practical Guide for Today’s Executive,”
by Tony Murphy
Murphy offers proven techniques, methodologies,
governance mechanisms and best practices guidelines to
guarantee that your technology investments yield real
business value every time. Wiley and Sons, 2002

“World Without Secrets: Business Crime and

Privacy in the Age of Ubiquitous Computing,”
by Richard Hunter
Learn how to protect your business from information crime,
seize emerging opportunities and survive and succeed in
a new environment that is as dangerous as it is promising.
Wiley and Sons, 2002

For more information about Gartner books,

visit gartnerpress.com.

36 | gartner know-how

Gartner Fellow Ken McGee is a man on
a mission—a mission to change the way
business executives and their IT peers look
at real-time data. “Far too many people think
of responses as soon as they hear the words
‘real time,’ ” says McGee, “but the Real-Time
Enterprise is about real-time detection, not
real-time response.”
According to McGee, his realization of the
importance of detection vs. response came
about after years of research. “I had always
been troubled by the emphasis on responses,
having seen many companies suffer from
overreactions to market changes or competitor
actions. It was only after studying dozens of
disasters, both in the natural world and in the
business world, that I realized the core of the
problem,” he says.
JOYCE HESSELBERTH
[ essential reading ]
The Real-Time Enterprise:
Detection, Not Response
McGee details his research on the Real-Time Enterprise and the implications for
businesses in his book, “Heads Up: How to Anticipate Business Surprises and Seize
Opportunities First,” published by Harvard Business School Press. Recently, Gartner
Know-how had the opportunity to discuss the book, and reactions to it, with McGee.
“My intensive research started in 1999 but took off in earnest after the 2000 stock
market crash,” McGee says. “At that time I wondered, ‘How is it possible to have so
much wealth destroyed so quickly?’ Even with all the real-time stock-market-watching
tools, millions of people lost more money than they dreamed possible. The issue wasn’t
that they couldn’t respond fast enough, it was that they didn’t know they needed to
respond until it was too late. That’s when I really started to look at other examples, first
natural or man-made disasters like the Zeebrugge, the Belgium ferry disaster, the Mount
St. Helens eruption, the Challenger explosion and so forth, and then at business disasters
like MCI , WorldCom and Enron. A very clear pattern emerged.
“In every case … there was warning before the disaster occurred—just like in the
stock market crash. The evidence, the pattern, was overwhelming; before every disaster I
could find, there was always warning.”
According to McGee, the consistent presence of early warning is what drives the
need for businesses to focus on detection instead of responses. “If you can detect that
the market is changing, that sales volumes are not being met, that costs are running
over budget in real time, that gives you the ability to respond at the right time, with a
well-planned and appropriate strategy. If, however, you focus on real-time response,
you’ll always miss the best opportunities for a positive response to changing market
conditions.”
If there is warning before all business mishaps or disasters, why do
they still happen so often? There are several reasons, but the primary reasons have
to do with timeliness and availability of information. In many of the cases I researched,
the information that would have provided warning was not being captured in real time
(and in many cases, not being captured at all), and therefore the warning was received
too late.
By the way, what exactly is a Real-Time Enterprise? In the book I define a
Real-Time Enterprise as one that practices real-time detection in all its critical business
processes. Additionally, a Real-Time Enterprise further improves its performance
by redesigning all processes needed to respond more efficiently and effectively when
required.
So there is a role for faster responses? Absolutely. Businesses need to take
unnecessary delays out of their responses, but that is very different than responding in
real time. You might say the goal is real-time detection, right-time response.
Are there Real-Time Enterprises out there right now? Right now,
I don’t believe there are true Real-Time Enterprises, but they are coming. As we
speak there are an ever-growing number of companies using real-time information
to avoid surprises and seize opportunities. The CEO of GM tracks sales in real time,
for instance. Retailers like Wet Seal are using real-time sales information to more
effectively allocate inventory. Amberwood Homes has raised its margins at least 10
percent by gathering real-time information on subcontractors’ efforts. eBay is using
real-time information to keep offensive material out of its auctions. So RTEs are
coming, and they are coming fast.
gartner know-how | 37
Gartner Consulting, staffed by nearly 600 specialist consultants, is hired to help
business and government clients solve problems and stimulate growth through
IT. Gartner Research, with more than 600 analysts, is the rich source of our
independent viewpoints and market data. Here are three client case studies of
recent Gartner work in both Consulting and Research where good advice and
independent data led to strong results.

True Value
The Value of Optimization

A major Silicon Valley software firm helps IT executives boost

performance, business impact and customer satisfaction with solutions
that manage IT infrastructure, governance and the entire application
life cycle. Today the company’s global reach and $700 million revenues
make it one of the fastest growing, most respected, enterprise software
companies in the world. The firm’s management team depends on
Gartner to assure it sustains market leadership.

Challenge
The firm’s aim is to help CIOs run IT like a business, using principles of
supply-and-demand management to optimize technology investments.
No company wants to over-invest in technology, nor does it want
to come up short. By using this firm’s solutions, CIOs find the right
balance, especially in high-budget categories like infrastructure,
governance and application development. Like any technology company,
the firm is challenged with growth, assessing emerging markets such
as China and India, evaluating potential acquisitions and growing new
partners and alliances.

Approach
Insight. Gartner analysts advise the firm on strategic planning, keeping
product development and marketing professionals ahead of the curve in
an exceptionally competitive market.
Market awareness. Gartner helps the company build awareness through
marketplace events, online webinars and inclusion of Gartner insight in
its promotional materials.
Customer segmentation. Gartner research and advice helps the firm’s
marketing staff fine-tune their segmentation strategy. Such fine-tuning
helps the firm promote its solutions to the customer segments most
likely to respond to its marketing campaigns.

“Gartner is a trusted advisor because they are respected

and well-connected with the IT user community. We consult
our key Gartner analyst before making any major moves.”
—Chief Marketing Officer, Software Company

Results
Brand excellence. Gartner has helped the company build and establish
its brand, propelling the company from a point product solution to a
full-scale, enterprisewide solution.
Growth. Gartner analysts have been advising the client for five years.
Since then, the company’s market presence has expanded into global
markets. The brand has been strengthened and revenues have steadily
increased on average by 20 percent each year.
Buyer insight. With Gartner, the firm has improved its knowledge
and insight about the needs of IT buyers for its products and solutions.
The results have also helped it develop and grow a best-in-class
marketing organization.

38 | gartner know-how
 [ making the case ]
The Value of Benchmarking
For the past four years, Entergy has entrusted Gartner to help it
benchmark pricing and other key performance indicators of its
multimillion-dollar outsourcing arrangement. The relationship has
paid off in a big way, keeping Entergy’s IT performance metrics in the
top 25 percent of its peer group. Entergy’s managers also benchmark the
firm’s IT practices against those in the industry to keep it abreast of other
opportunities to add value to the business.
Challenge
Every firm that decides to outsource major IT operations needs an
external perspective on vendor relationship management, cost control
and, in many cases, migrating to a performance-based billing model.
Since Entergy conducted a full outsource of all IT operations, it has
been continually challenged with ensuring it is getting full value for its
outsourcing investment.
“In IT, measurement is high-priority
because of outsourcing.”
—Vicki Langley, Director, IT Sourcing and
Performance Management, Entergy
Approach
Relationship assessment. Gartner delivered a relationship performance
assessment to find opportunities for performance improvement.
Benchmarking. Entergy’s IT managers engage Gartner each year to
benchmark vendor pricing and other key performance indicators to
assure they are receiving optimal value from a multimillion-dollar
outsourcing arrangement.
Best practices review. Entergy’s benchmarking efforts also include
a review of current industry best practices to reveal even more
opportunities for boosting efficiency and performance.
Results
High performance. Entergy’s IT performance has remained in the top
25 percent of its peer group for the past four years.
Optimum value. Gartner helps Entergy leverage industry metrics to
ensure it is getting optimum value for its outsourcing investment.
Best practices. Entergy continually adopts best practices revealed
through benchmarking to reduce costs and keep morale high.
Relationship management. The annual benchmark also involves
Entergy’s service provider, which contributes to keeping a positive,
productive relationship in place.
KEN ORVIDAS
The Value of Outsourcing
When organizations look to outsourcing as a strategy to reduce
costs, the emotional response can run high. The challenge is even
tougher in city government environments where the interests of local
politicians and labor unions must be delicately managed. When the
City of Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A., faced such a situation, Gartner
consultants were called upon to support the city in validating a business
case for outsourcing, as well as evaluating external service providers.
Challenge
City of Minneapolis CIO Karl Kaiser was looking to guide his
organization with technology strategies that would advance business
objectives, optimize costs and drive higher customer satisfaction.
Outsourcing was an obvious strategy for cost reduction, but would it
compromise existing service levels and relationships with local labor
unions? Would local politicians find outsourcing a threat to their
constituents? Could the city attract top vendors?
Approach
Existing work validated. The Gartner team started by validating
the work the city had already completed. The team also analyzed
best practices being used in local government and other outsourcing
situations of similar complexity.
Business case and evaluation and selection support. Gartner
supported the city’s efforts to build a business case that demonstrated
the financial and strategic argument for outsourcing. In addition, Gartner
provided third-party objective analysis of vendor proposals to assist in
the city’s evaluation and selection process.
Objective analysis. Gartner independent, objective analysis was
instrumental in supporting the arguments needed for the Minneapolis
City Council approval process.
“We were very close to the situation on many
levels. Gartner provided an external sanity
check on the entire deal.”
—Karl Kaiser, CIO, City of Minneapolis
Results
Consensus. Approval to outsource was secured from a diverse
group of stakeholders, including 12 of the 13 members of the
Minneapolis City Council. In addition, selection of the external
service provider was validated using industry best practices.
Validated procurement scope. The city’s plan to migrate
computer and network infrastructure, various support functions
and the help desk to an external service provider was validated
through an independent, third-party review. Application
development remained in-house.
Outsourcing contract closed. The City of Minneapolis signed a
seven-year, $54 million outsourcing deal.
gartner know-how | 39
 [ talent pool ]

What Does It Take

We asked three
analysts and an
HR director that
question. The
short answer is:
the ability to
to Be a Gartner Analyst?
think, write,
Take in everything. Give back the best parts. Maintain a global view.
converse, travel,
“Exceptional ability to absorb extremely large volumes “In addition to writing research, Gartner analysts spend a
speak to large of disconnected and unrelated pieces of data, organize it significant amount of time in front of clients, and our clients
groups and into something cohesive, see the big picture and, at the are spread out across the world. To be successful, an analyst
stay on top of same time, focus on the details. Then distilling it into needs to have a good understanding of the diversity of
your topic at bite-size pieces of analysis, information, insight and our client population, which includes every background,
an unrelenting recommendations. Then defending it among your peers. location and language. Our analysts understand their
pace that would That’s the name of the game.” —Craig Baty, Research clients, where the clients come from and what the clients
Analyst need to drive their business strategy.
exhaust mere
Our analysts have the ability to make the complex simple
mortals in Do it all. And research, too. and relevant, regardless of location. They maintain a true
no time. “Responsiveness, availability, visibility—all are key. global reach.” —Alissa Stayn, Human Resources Director
This is the most difficult job because you are bombarded
with requests from all angles. Customers come first, Stand firm. And know when to let go.
peers second. You have to force time to do research and “I think there’s a secret recipe with the right mix of ego
subsequently get it published. Writing is the key to and humility. A good analyst has to have a passion for
leveraging our research, and leverage is critical to the his or her positions and a belief that he or she can make a
Gartner business model. difference, but also has to be willingly prepared to change
Our job is to make sure the thought leadership, position. You cannot defend a position to your dying
CATHY GENDRON

collaboration, customer service and responsiveness we breath. Hopefully, you can either admit you are wrong
all strive for doesn’t keep us from doing the research and and move on, or get ahead of the curve of everybody else
publishing. No one can use what’s stuck in your brain.” and change a position when warranted.” —Mike Chuba,
—Yvonne Genovese, Research Analyst Research Analyst

40 | gartner know-how
Gartner Consulting.

Harnessing
the Power of IT.
Many initiatives are quick to start, but elude the peak. It’s typically easier to start IT initiatives
than it is to finish them. Just when the mountaintop is in sight, it can suddenly feel you’re that
much further from reaching the top. And with so many business initiatives vying for
resources, some of them inevitably start to fall.

So how can you do a better job of setting priorities, managing resources and assuring all your IT initiatives reach the
summit—with the results the business expects?
Get Gartner Consulting involved. With 2,000 projects a year, we have the experience and know-how that keeps IT initiatives
focused on desired business outcomes. Our methodology helps you set goals and priorities, make key technology choices
that enable the business and simplify your environment, select the right vendors and manage the most critical initiatives—
with complete objectivity and independence. And, we help you tie it all together with a consistent quality standard. We are
the mountaineers that give you the boost you need.

To learn how Gartner Consulting can help you push IT initiatives to the top,
visit gartner.com/consulting.

RESEARCH CONSULTING EVENTS EXECUTIVE PROGRAMS

Gartner Research.

Real insight.
Real impact. Today.
Every day, you face tough decisions. Any one of them can change your future. One right move
can produce record growth. One wrong move can cause your customers to go elsewhere.

With Gartner at your side, you can make these decisions armed with the best insight available. In doing so, you’ll be backed by
the experience and expertise of our 600 analysts—all of whom are experts in their chosen fields. With our research, you’ll get the
intelligence you need on which vendors are right for you, cost-of-ownership, forecasts of market demand, and even our
predictions for the future. And you’ll get it based on our proven methodologies that push through market hype to get to the facts.
It’s all at your fingertips: research, interaction with our analysts, and more.

See for yourself why 45,000 clients across 10,000 organizations rely on us every day.
Visit us at gartner.com.

RESEARCH CONSULTING EVENTS EXECUTIVE PROGRAMS