Gartner Symposium isn't just about IT

While the annual Gartner Symposium/ITXPO 2013 is a great opportunity for CIO’s to network with one another and learn about technology initiatives for the upcoming year, among its 12,000 attendees you will also find a small group of Analyst Relations professionals. The annual event is a perfect time for these AR representatives to congregate with one another and discuss their relationships with one of the largest influencer groups in their space.

Embracing this idea, Gartner holds a special AR Forum event for these folks to gather, network and learn more about Gartner’s research practices. After a short introduction and welcome from Gartner CEO  Gene Hall, Gartner’s SVP of Global Research, Peter Sonddergaard took the stage, updating the group about changes since last year and things to expect in the year ahead. Peter broke it down into three “Dimensions of Growth” which included Process, People and Content.

When it comes to process, Gartner schedules approximately 16 analyst briefings each day, having conducted over 12,000 analyst briefings in 2011, they are on pace to conduct even more this year. Gartner’s focus over the next 12 months is to continue streamlining and automating the briefing process to reduce turnaround time.

The other area that will receive attention is a simple move to automating calendar invites from Gartner, reducing the number of missed meetings and confusion around exact time and attendees for each briefing. Gartner is also very interested in continual feedback on its process and analysts and has instituted a before and after email program to set expectations, address issues and make improvements.

The People – meaning, the analysts. Gartner is growing and focusing on expanding is global analyst footprint. The minimum industry experience a Gartner analyst must have is 12 years, 60 percent have 20 or more years. Fifty percent of Gartner analysts have a postgraduate degree and 35 percent
speak two or more languages. Gartner will continue to focus growth on industry verticals, so while multiple analysts might be experts in CRM, one may focus on the financial markets while another specializes in retail.

In the area of content, Gartner laid out several key research themes for 2013 including the continued rise of business technology, ongoing growth and the already hot area of security, an added focus on the value and importance of analytics based on availability of Big Data, real world
cloud computing, the need to simplify IT complexity and mobile web evolution.

One other bit of info worth sharing is the two great questions for everyone to ask their analyst.

1. What questions are you being asked the most?
2. What question do you wish clients were asking you?

The belief here being that companies who can own the questions that matter and can align with the analysts covering their space will have a world class AR program.

Rich Wadsworth, Lois Paul and Partner's VP of Business Development and Marketing, is blogging daily from the Gartner Symposium in Orlando this week.