Thomas Otter

Welcome to my Gartner blog.

I’m not new to blogging, having started an IT related blog called vendorprisey  in March 2006.

The reasons why I started that blog remain relevant today.

Back then  I was working for SAP, and there was a lot of discussion going on about SAP in the blogosphere that I wanted to be part of.  At the time there wasn’t a formal blogging programme, so it was with some trepidation and lots of positive support from Jeff Nolan, the ur-enterprise blogger,  that I started.

I’m also grateful to other experienced bloggers, especially James Governor, Through blogging about enterprise software I have made good friends, and I have learnt much. My blog also played a role in my joining Gartner. It made me realise that I like research and writing  about the software industry, and that people actually take the time to read what I write.

Now that I’m at Gartner, I feel the same way.  Blogging is a way for me and my colleagues to engage in a broader conversation about what we do, and why.  It won’t replace core research work, but add to it. Gartner’s fiercest critics are those that don’t access our research.  Through this blog I hope to engage and discuss what I do,  and learn from others how to improve how I do my job.

I’m really pleased that Gartner has put a formal blogging policy in place, and I look forward to seeing the conversations that emerge.  I’m thankful to my colleagues that worked hard to get the policy in place, and to the management for taking this step.  It will be a interesting an challenging journey, I remain a firm fan of the cluetrain.

Also feel free to follow me on twitter. I’m a slow but avid cyclist so you  may find more about heart rates than about hype cycles there.

Even before the blogs formally launched there was a good bit of discussion over on twitter and in the blogosphere about Gartner blogging. I’m not sure whether this is upping the ante or not. but hopefully the conversations that this blog helps generate will make me a better analyst.  A big part of this job is about listening, and blogs have big ears.

My research focus is Human Capital Management, and most of this blog will focus on our research in this area. My colleague Jim has cross posted a number of his HR tech related posts on his Gartner blog When I have a moment I’ll probably do something similar.

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Category: Uncategorized     Tags: blogging policy

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