Careers at Gartner

Mission

Gartner’s mission is to deliver the technology-related insight necessary for their clients to make the right decisions, every day.

Business segments

Gartner is an information technology research and advisory company, serving over 10,000 corporate clients, including 74% of the Fortune 1000 and 75% of the Global 500, in over 90 countries.

It provides research and advice on IT, supply chain, and digital marketing issues, channeling its expertise and experience in these fields into three main business segments: Research, Consulting, and Events.

  • Research – This arm provides various informational tools, including reports, briefings, proprietary tools, access to our analysts, peer networking services, and membership programs, to senior representatives of corporate clients on various IT-related topics on interest, including hardware, software and systems, services, IT management, market data and forecasts, and vertical-industry issues. The aim of these tools is to allow clients to make better and more informed decisions about IT, supply chain and digital marketing issues. Gartner employs 1.125 analysts worldwide who research on all major IT initiatives and technologies to deliver up-to-date, independent, and objective research and advice.
  • Consulting – This arm provides bespoke advisory and consulting services to improve and optimize IT performance by providing actionable solutions for, amongst other things, IT applications, enterprise architecture, go-to-market strategies, infrastructure and operations, program and portfolio management, sourcing and vendor relationships, IT cost optimization, technology modernization and IT sourcing optimization initiatives in client organisations. This is done through proprietary tools and with on-site and day-to-day support from Gartner staff. Gartner employs 606 consultants worldwide who work to convert Gartner’s research into actionable steps for its corporate consulting clients.
  • Events – This arm organizes events such as symposia, conferences, and exhibitions in order for experts in the IT, supply chain, digital marketing, and other business fields to network and to share their expertise. Their flagship event is Symposium/ITxpo, and they conduct events that are general and others that are focused on particular ideas and technologies.

History

Gartner was founded in 1979 by Gideon Gartner, a professional experienced in the IT field, in partnership with David Stein, another IT professional. Gideon held a mechanical engineering degree from MIT and an MSc in Management from Sloan at MIT.

He had worked for IBM in both the US and in Europe, in its intelligence operations division. After that he was a partner with Oppenheimer & Co, where he was rated the top individual securities analyst in the technology field for seven straight years. In Oppenheimer he developed the research methods later used in Gartner.

Gideon started Gartner as a provider of research and analysis for IT related issues, specializing particularly in IBM and its products. He targeted confused corporate professionals who were struggling with computers – in this manner he preferred writing one-page memos instead of long studies, which tended to get ignored by busy professionals.

In the 1980s, Gartner quickly became known for its intimate and comprehensive perspective on IBM, having taken in a number of former IBM employees. IBM later sued Gartner for allegedly revealing trade secrets – the suit was settled out of court. Gartner also created an arm that was aimed at providing IT related market information to the investment company. This arm was later spun off into a separate company called Gartner Group Securities.

Gartner was acquired in 1988 by a British communications firm, Saatchi & Saatchi, for USD90.3 Million. Saatchi ran into significant cash flow problems and began divesting its businesses in late 1989. In 1990 Gartner management led an LBO with assistance from Bain Capital and Dun & Bradstreet.

Over the next 3 years it would see its revenues climb back into black after the significant losses it took while under Saatchi. In 1995 Gartner acquired its longtime rival, Dataquest, and expanded into Japan. Over the next decade it would go on to acquire other direct competitors, including NewScience, Meta Group, AMR Research, and Burton Group.

Benefits at Gartner

Business model of Gartner

Customer Segments

Gartner’s customer base can be separated into two segments – individual senior corporate representatives, and corporates. It operates globally, but derives over two-thirds of its revenue from its North American operations.

  • Senior corporate representatives – Gartner’s research and events arms target mainly individual senior corporate representatives, including CIOs and senior information technology (IT) leaders in corporations and government agencies, business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, supply chain professionals, digital marketing professionals, technology investors, and others who may require up-to-date research on IT issues and who may benefit from the information sharing that comes from attending the IT-specific events organized by Gartner.
  • Corporates – Corporates are generally served through the consulting arm, which provides IT advisory services to achieve optimal cost, performance, efficiency and quality.

Value Proposition

Gartner’s value proposition is threefold.

First, its research coverage is both in-depth, in that it has deep expertise in very specific fields – IT, supply chains, and digital marketing, and extensive, in that within each field, especially IT, it is able to provide unparalleled coverage with regard to major issues. Second, Gartner is known for being independent and objective, making it a good source of information and advice for corporate clients. Third, Gartner has developed and is able to provide its proprietary tools to benchmark capabilities and to apply best practices for client organisations.

Aside from the above, Gartner is an established brand with over 35 years of history, a global footprint, a massive network of analysts and consultants, 3and a highly experienced management team.

Channels

The channels that Gartner uses to engage its customers varies largely across the different services that are provided.

For research services, reports, briefings, updates and related tools are primarily delivered online via Gartner’s website and/or product-specific portals. These reports are accessible through subscription only portals.

For consulting services, the provided assistance is of a bespoke nature. Gartner staff are usually present on the ground to assist with the application of Gartner’s proprietary information and tools to corporate client concerns. In this regard Gartner provides on-site and day-to-day support from its staff.

Customer Relationships

Gartner maintains its customer relationships differently across its different business functions. For its research arm, it maintains relationships primarily through virtual means – via its website or other product specific apps.

For consulting and events, both of which are more relational in nature, it has staff on the ground to assist with customers (and event goers). It also employs sales personnel to build up and maintain its customer relationships.

Key Activities

Gartner’s key activity is the provision of research, consulting, and event organization services for senior corporate representatives and corporates on issues relating to IT, supply chain, and digital marketing.

Key Partners

Gartner’s key partners are its clients and vendors.

Key Resources

Gartner’s key resources are its goodwill, intangible assets, and property, plant, and equipment. Of these the largest balance sheet item is its goodwill.

Cost Structure

Gartner’s key costs are the cost of services and product development, and selling, general, and administrative expenses.

The common thread between the two is staff costs – as Gartner’s business is the provision of services, its main costs would be to maintain its staff’s wages and to maintain its physical operations through its office space leases.

Revenue Streams

Gartner’s revenue streams come from its three main business segments: Research, Consulting, and Events.

The research arm earns mainly from subscription fees for research products. Consulting revenues are derived from both fixed fee or time and material arrangements. Event revenues are generated from ticket sales and other revenues.

Source of Revenue/Cost Revenue (FY 2015, thousand USD) % of Total Revenue
Total revenues 2,163,056 100%

Research

1,583,486 73%

Consulting

327,735 15%

Events

251,835 12%
Expenses 1,875,059 87%

Cost of services & product development

839,076 39%

Selling, general and administrative

962,677 45%

Depreciation

33,789 2%

Amortization of intangibles

13,342 1%

Acquisition & integration charges

26,175 1%
Operating income 287,997 13%

Our team

Eugene A. Hall,
CEO

info: Eugene holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from Harvard. He began his career as a consultant in McKinsey & Co, joining Automatic Data Processing in 1998 after 16 years in consulting. He rose up the ranks in ADP, becoming the President of its Employers Services Major Accounts Division, before joining Gartner as CEO in August 2004.

Craig Safian,
CFO

info: Craig holds a bachelor's degree from Rutgers College and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Emory University. He is also a Certified Public Accountant. He began his career as an accountant with Friedman LLP, later joining Bristol-Myers Squibb in a similar role. He then joined Headstrong in 2000 as the Senior Director in its Global Planning & Analysis division. He joined Gartner in 2001 as a Group Vice President in Global Finance. He was named CFO in June 2014.

Michael P. Diliberto,
CIO

info: Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science from State University of New York. He started his career in Prodigy Service Company as a production analyst, joining News Corporation as a Vice President in its News Internet Services arm in 1995. He then joined Priceline.com as the Chief Software Architect, eventually becoming its CIO in 2010. He joined Gartner as its CIO in May 2016.