topleft
topright
Enter the Member Network Zone View the Top 10 Points Leaderboard View Members Who Are Currently Online View Latest Member Activity

Expert Blog Entries

CIOZone Experts

Opinions and views from expert CIOZone members.


Jan 06
2010

Gartner Absorbs Another IT Research Firm

Posted by meggebrecht in IT Research Firms, Gartner, Burton Group, AMR Research
meggebrecht

The IT research world continues to shrink with Gartner's $56 million acquisition of Midvale, Utah-based Burton Group.

The move, announced earlier this week, comes on the heels of Gartner's announcement last month that it plans to acquire Boston-based AMR Research for $40 million. It also furthers a trend that has been hard to miss: Specialist research firms are getting snatched up by larger players like Gartner and Forrester.

Burton Group, which has about 40 analysts and 40 sales and service associates, says on its Web site that it focuses on "infrastructure technologies, strategy adoption, and governance practices relating to over 40 enterprise technologies" and counts hundreds of Fortune 500 and Global 2000 companies among its clients. The company's projected revenue last year was $30 million.

As in the deal for AMR, a supply chain management specialist with an expected $40 million in 2009 revenue, Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner is looking to expand its offerings with Burton. In this case, that means adding more practical advice for IT managers.

"Gartner has traditionally focused on providing strategic insight to CIOs and senior IT executives, while Burton Group has built a leading niche providing practical, how-to advice to front-line IT professionals," explained Gartner CEO Gene Hall in a statement. Burton, he added, "should enable us to offer a more complete solution to every level and functional expert within an IT organization."

On a message posted to the Burton Group site, CEO Jamie Lewis said that his firm's "focus on pragmatic, in-depth IT research, consulting and events will be a valuable and significant complement to the current Gartner portfolio," adding that Gartner's resources will improve Burton's offerings and give its clients access to a greater breadth of services.

In the near term, said Lewis, Burton clients won't see any changes in their relationship with Burton.

For the industry, the question is really which specialist firm is going to get bought out next?

[ Back ]
Comments (5)Add Comment
feedSubscribe to this comment's feed
Mel Duvall
...
written by Mel Duvall, January 06, 2010
The continued swallowing up small and mid-sized analyst firms by Gartner and Forrester has to have CIOs worried. There is a danger that a lack of real competition could lead to stiff consulting fee increases once the economy picks up. Also, there will be a definite lack of viewpoints going forward. In time, new analyst firms will form to fill the void, but in the meantime, Gartner and Forrester will wield a dangerous amount of clout.
Tom Hoffman
...
written by Tom Hoffman, January 07, 2010
I agree with Mel on both counts.

Case in point: Many CIOs I've known over the years were disappointed after Meta Group got snapped up by Gartner in 2004. CIOs who relied upon both advisory firms looked upon Meta as an alternative sounding board to Gartner. To a great extent, they lost that after Meta got absorbed.

This isn't intended as a knock against Gartner -- or Forrester, for that matter. But there are a lot of benefits to having a multitude of advisory firms and opinions to draw from.

Still, with customer firms cutting back on their use of advisory services, it's getting tougher and tougher for smaller firms and niche players to survive.



George Tomko
...
written by George Tomko, January 07, 2010
I definitely can relate to the loss of Meta Group, that was a big blow to competitive advisory services. Now we are left with the Wave and the Magic Matrix. I do think that the alternatives lie in social media driven settings, blogs, etc. At the end of the day, it is the experiences of been-there, done that, practicing professionals that have the most to offer in terms of advice.
Mel Duvall
...
written by Mel Duvall, January 08, 2010
It hasn’t taken long for Gartner’s purchase of AMR Research to have some fallout. Software vendor Infor, announced this week that it has hired Bruce Richardson, the Chief Research Officer at AMR, to be its chief strategy officer. Richardson is one of the most respected analysts in the enterprise software business, and his loss will be a blow for Gartner.
Mandar Munagekar
...
written by Mandar Munagekar, January 14, 2010
I can absolutely relate! In a typical research syndication what comes out is the agreement between two analyst and finally the verdict from the Chief Resarch Officer or Stratey officer. With so many acquisitions the overall view points within the industry may DIE. I think it is time that people like Gartner also publish the various conflicting opinions of their analyst. That way we would least know which way to go and the reason for their final assesment. by the way do fair trade practices still exist in this world? Or it will be like the Swine flu vaccine where only couple of companies keep digging the money mine.

Write comment
You must be logged in to post a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.

busy




White Paper Library

Privacy Policy  |  Terms of Use  |  Contact Us  |  CIOZone Media Kit  |  White Papers  |  Invite Colleagues
Copyright © 2007-2013 CIOZones. All Rights Reserved. CIOZone is a property of PSN, Inc.