Office of the Ombudsman

Gartner is known for our independence and objectivity, and our Copyright and Quote Policy is one way that we reinforce these qualities. With this in mind, we frequently look for ways to improve the policy; our latest look highlighted a few areas where we could increase consistency and further reinforce our independence and objectivity. This [...]

[Read more →]

Guest post by Jackie Ryan, Managing VP of Global Editing, Research Strategy and Operations, Gartner Occasionally, vendors ask why Gartner has rendered their company or product names differently in our published research than the way they appear on their website. As we’ve all seen, company and product names, spellings and even punctuation can be quite [...]

[Read more →]

Ever wonder how long it takes to create a Magic Quadrant or MarketScope, what analysts have to go through to establish a new one, or why Gartner doesn’t share specific company ratings? A recently posted FAQ, created by Gartner’s Research Methodologies team, responds to these questions. I can attest that all of these questions have [...]

[Read more →]

It’s no secret that Gartner uses IT products and services, but we’ve long had a rule against the providers of those products and services promoting Gartner as a customer. Lately we’ve had a rash of requests from vendors to change that rule, or at least bend it. We’ve said no to all of these requests, [...]

[Read more →]

Did you ever want to quote Gartner research on your personal blog? How about on your corporate one? If you have, check out the update to the Gartner Copyright and Quote Policy on gartner.com. You might say, “It’s about time!” and you’d be right: we certainly have seen an increase in requests to quote research [...]

[Read more →]

With Symposium season officially underway, we’ve seen an increase in the number of vendors reaching out to analysts with invitations to dinner and cocktail receptions. As you may know, Gartner has some “rules of engagement” for these types of interactions (not limited to Gartner events). I briefly touched on this topic in a previous blog [...]

[Read more →]

I have received some questions recently about a law suit filed against Gartner regarding our Magic Quadrant. I want to provide those following the situation with an update. Yesterday, the judge granted Gartner’s motion to dismiss the case for failing to state a legal claim. While the plaintiff has a limited right to amend and [...]

[Read more →]

It almost sounds like a joke, except we’ve heard it more than once. Here it is: a number of vendors have told their prospects that Gartner charges vendors to be covered in its research. I’ve even heard specific amounts of up to $100,000 being claimed. Quite simply, if this were true Gartner would not be [...]

[Read more →]

Prepare and have a sense of urgency. Do these and you’ll be on your way to mounting a successful escalation about Gartner Research. But there’s more — lots more. Check out the updated Research Issue Escalation Process for Vendors (http://tinyurl.com/mz6vs6). Also included in the process document is an FAQ that answers questions you may have about whether [...]

[Read more →]

You might know we’re in the middle of “Hype Cycle season,” where we publish 80 or so Hype Cycle documents in a short period of time. Clients often ask if they can share the graphics and/or quote from the content externally – for example, paste the graphic on their web site, quote from the document [...]

[Read more →]