Thomas Otter

A member of the Gartner Blog Network

Archives for February, 2009


Accounting’s big problem according to Archibald.

by Thomas Otter  |  February 23, 2009  |  5 Comments

Though your balance-sheet’s a model of what balance-sheet should be, Typed and ruled with great precision in a type that all can see; Though the grouping of the assets is commendable and clear, And the details which are given more than usually appear; Though investments have been valued at the sale price of the day, [...]

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Category: HCM HR finance measurement     Tags: , , , ,

What does an Adobe/SAP expert and John Prescott have in common?

by Thomas Otter  |  February 19, 2009  |  Comments Off

Both of them used social software to rapidly organize protests. Both with 10,000s of participants in a matter of days. John Prescott, former UK deputy Prime Minister,  took on the Bank bonus issue in the UK. Anne took on the Facebook Terms of Service. She blogged about her reasons for starting the group. I hadn’t [...]

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Category: Law Social Software privacy     Tags: , , ,

Banging on about HR analytics.

by Thomas Otter  |  February 19, 2009  |  1 Comment

Tom Davenport, over on his Harvard blog, picks up on how HR could learn from Basketball. How do analytics spread in sports? It usually starts with a few individuals who have seen their application in other domains (Daryl Morey of the Rockets, for example, was a fan of Bill James, the baseball stats Geek of [...]

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Category: HCM HR     Tags: , ,

It has been a year.

by Thomas Otter  |  February 10, 2009  |  12 Comments

Almost exactly a year ago today I left SAP and joined Gartner. So, how are things a year on? I’ve been on a steep learning curve, and I don’t see it levelling off anytime soon. I talk to several vendors a week, and a good number of clients. I’m building up a better grasp of [...]

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Category: Gartner HCM HR software industry     Tags: , ,

Innovation in a shed.

by Thomas Otter  |  February 5, 2009  |  2 Comments

No, this post isn’t about the founding of HP or Apple. It is about this shed. (photo via wikipedia) This is not just any shed. It is part of Bletchley Park. It is here that women and men deciphered codes in WWII. It is here that the first practical computers were used. There is a [...]

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Category: history software industry     Tags: , ,