© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without Gartner's prior written permission. If you are authorized to access this publication, your use of it is subject to the Usage Guidelines for Gartner Services posted on gartner.com. The information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Gartner disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information and shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in such information. This publication consists of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice. Although Gartner research may include a discussion of related legal issues, Gartner does not provide legal advice or services and its research should not be construed or used as such. Gartner is a public company, and its shareholders may include firms and funds that have financial interests in entities covered in Gartner research. Gartner's Board of Directors may include senior managers of these firms or funds. Gartner research is produced independently by its research organization without input or influence from these firms, funds or their managers. For further information on the independence and integrity of Gartner research, see "Guiding Principles on Independence and Objectivity."

AR Community Webcast

May 27-28, 2015

The content of this presentation is for the benefit of vendor Analyst Relations professionals and those directly involved with Gartner Magic Quadrant & companion content research with Gartner. The content and

discussions included in the preview call are for your internal use only. This recording and the slides used in this presentation, may not be shared outside of your organization.

2015 Spring Update - Gartner Research & Office of the Ombudsman

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

AR Community mission: To foster information sharing and best practices with Analyst

Relations professionals so clients and non-clients can interact more efficiently and

effectively with Gartner.

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Representing Gartner

This presentation, including any supporting materials, is owned by Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and is for the sole use of the intended Gartner audience or other authorized recipients. This presentation may contain information that is confidential, proprietary or otherwise legally protected, and it may not be further copied, distributed or publicly displayed without the express written permission of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates.© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Claire Dessaux

MVP, Research Content Process

Nancy Erskine

GVP & Ombudsman

David Black

VP, Content Architecture & Methodology

2

Debbie Chamberlin

Program Manager, Research Content Strategy

Jeff Golterman

GVP & Global AR Community Lead

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Agenda

• Optimized Delivery Update

• Vendor Rating Research Refresh

• New Tools Available to You

• Q&A

3

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Claire Dessaux and Nancy Erskine

Optimized Delivery Update

4

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Optimized DeliveryGiving You Time Back

Streamlined

Participation

Optimized Two-

Way

Communication

Enhanced

Process

Consistency

Technology

Providers

3 Workflow Enhancements

Team-Based Approach to Content Production1

2Reusable Standards, Best Practices & Templates

5

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

MQ Research ProcessFrom Your Vantage Point

Vendor Survey &

Briefing/Demo

Customer References

PublishingVendor Factual

Review

Planning

Planning & Scoping Data Collection

Kick-Off

Wrap-Up

Optional Phase

Escalations/Audits

6

Publishing & Wrap-Up Review & Approval

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Planning & Scoping (1 of 2)Key Enhancements

What You Told Us What We Have Done/Are Doing

“We don’t have a consolidated view of all

up-coming MQs with associated details.” Enhanced Publication Calendar • Refreshed the 10th of every month, available on

gartner.com

• Includes targeted publication month, kick-off month, author

and co-authors, project contact name, and changes

highlighted from one update to the next

• Lists MQs + CCs + MQ-Cs

“We see the value of working with

dedicated project managers (i.e. not

analysts) for efficiency and consistency.”

Dedicated Project Management Support• To oversee and manage projects end-to-end

• Target: 100% coverage of MQs and CCs

“Changes in evaluation criteria weights are

not always highlighted and explained.”

“The definition of criteria is too high level.

We don’t understand what each criteria

really entails”

“We don’t have a end-to-end view of the

schedule.”

“Some deadlines are during holidays.”

Detailed Welcome Packet • Five key sections: 1) Market description; 2) Inclusion

criteria; 3) Evaluation criteria and sub-criteria; 4) Schedule;

5) Cut-off date for data collection

• Formal vendor acknowledgment required on inclusion

criteria and schedule

• Reviewed and approved by Team Managers before

distribution7

Data Collection

Review & Approval

Publishing & Wrap-Up

Escalations/Audits

Planning & Scoping

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Planning & Scoping (2 of 2)Key Enhancements

What You Told Us What We Have Done/Are Doing

“We are not notified when there is a

change in lead author, market

definition, change of weight,

schedule, etc.”

Proactive Notifications of Changes

• Explicit communications of changes(lead author,

criteria, etc.) as early as possible with context

whenever appropriate

• Drop-off notifications sent at the beginning of the

process

“We don’t always receive the initial

communication checking contact

details.”

“We would like for this

communication to be systematically

sent to a specific contact.”

Vendor Contact Verification

• Required confirmation from technology providers

• Request for primary and secondary contact

• Centralized management of technology provider

contact information (in progress)

“We are being asked to address the

same data collection questions

multiple times.”

Smarter Research Planning

• Streamlined publication schedule over 12 months

• Optimized coordination of research in adjacent

markets to consolidate data collection8

Data Collection

Review & Approval

Publishing & Wrap-Up

Escalations/Audits

Planning & Scoping

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Publication Calendar

9

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Detailed Welcome Packet

10

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Data Collection Key Enhancements

What You Told Us What We Have Done/Are Doing

“We get surveys in all sorts of formats.”

“We need to be able to collaborate on survey

responses.”

“We are not sure what analysts need in the vendor

briefing.”

Standardized Documents (Summer 2015)• Templates for vendor surveys, vendor briefings,

and demos

• Common survey format that optimizes

collaboration and team work for vendors

‘We have to use different points of contacts to

schedule our calls with Gartner in the context of

MQs.”

Centralized Scheduling• All vendor interactions scheduled through Project

Managers

“We don’t always understand the questions in the

vendor surveys.”Pilot: Vendor Survey Q&A Call (Summer

2015)• Call mid-way through the vendor survey work to

address vendor questions

“We don’t have enough details on the customer

reference profiles Gartner needs.”

“Gartner doesn’t explain what customer references

should expect.”

“We don’t know which customer references have

responded/not responded to the on-line survey.”

Visibility in Customer Reference Work• Consistency in the number of references

requested (in progress)

Details on expected customer profiles

Weekly status updates of survey response rates

• Video for customer references11

Data Collection

Review & Approval

Publishing & Wrap-Up

Escalations/Audits

Planning & Scoping

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Review & ApprovalKey Enhancements

What You Told Us What We Have Done/Are Doing

“The structure of the vendor write-up is not

always consistent.”

“The strengths and cautions do not give any

insight behind the relative position of the dot.”

Standardized Vendor Write-Ups (Summer

2015)

• Consistent format for vendor write-ups

including Strengths and Cautions bullets

“The quality of the drafts we receive is not

consistent.”

Pre-Editing before Vendor Factual

Review

• To increase quality of the content coming to

vendors for fact-check and minimize

surprises

“The format of the vendor factual review call

is not consistent.”

Factual Review Call (Summer 2015)

• To happen after technology providers send

comments back

• To help technology providers explain the

outcome of the analysis internally

12

Data Collection

Review & Approval

Publishing & Wrap-Up

Escalations/Audits

Planning & Scoping

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Publishing & Wrap-UpKey Enhancements

What You Told Us What We Have Done/Are Doing

“Sometimes the publication of an MQ is

delayed and we don’t know why.”

Pro-active Communication of

Publication Delays

• With rationale whenever appropriate

“We don’t always know when an MQ

publishes until we see it on gartner.com.”

Courtesy Copies

• Sent to vendors as soon as MQs publish

“We would like to get a preview of Gartner’s

own PR plans associated to some of the

MQs.”

Pilot: PR Plan Communication (Fall 2015)

• Highlights of PR plans associated with

some publications for vendors that want to

align

13

Data Collection

Review & Approval

Publishing & Wrap-Up

Escalations/Audits

Planning & Scoping

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Escalations/AuditsKey Enhancements

What You Told Us What We Have Done/Are Doing

“We are not sure when and how to escalate.”

“We’ve been using escalation to get heard.”

Clear Definition of Start/End Points

Clear delineation of what we consider

during escalation – and what we don’t --

via Audit Claim Input Form

• Details on process steps, schedules, and

best practices for all phases of vendor

factual review and audit (updated vendor-

escalation process on gartner.com –

coming Summer 2015)

“We don’t know when an MQ has been

escalated by someone else.”

Proactive Communication of

Escalations

• Notification to all participating vendors

with estimated impact on publication

schedule

14

Data Collection

Review & Approval

Publishing & Wrap-Up

Escalations/Audits

Planning & Scoping

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Audit Claim Input Form (CIF)

15

Magic Quadrant Audit Claim Input Form

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Key Next Steps

• Extension of the standardization to CCs, MQ + CC combinations, MQ-Cs, and MGs

• Centralization of standard survey questions used during data collection

16

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

David Black or

Deborah Chamberlain

Vendor Rating Research

17

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Gartner Vendor Rating Update

Gartner is refreshing its Vendor Ratings content for 2016:

- Rating methodology - Target audience and content

- Look and feel - Coverage areas and refresh cycle

We want your suggestions for this evolution (vr@gartner.com)

18

A Gartner Vendor Rating assesses all the

different aspects of a technology provider’s

strength, such as its strategy, organization,

products, technology, marketing, financials

and support.

It provides valuable insight into how a

provider’s offerings and strategic direction

align with their business objectives and

assesses the overall balance of their portfolio

and their longer-term financial potential.

Vendor Ratings help clients:

Manage provider portfolio risks while keeping

an eye on up-and-coming players and

alternate strategic providers

Understand how providers’ products and

services stack-up in multiple markets and how

they are positioned for long-term survival

Support key purchase, investment and

renewal decisions

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Claire Dessaux

New Tools Available to You

19

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

List of Agendas & Agenda ManagersNow Available on the AR Community Web Site

Agenda Managers are responsible for focusing the attention of Gartner analysts on the questions most pertinent to Gartner

clients. Their job is to structure the research agenda and facilitate which issues will be written as research.

20

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Claire Dessaux

Summary

21

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Key Take-Aways & Actions from Today

• Significant progress in Optimized Delivery – We need your help and support in the rollout

• Upcoming refresh of Vendor Rating research –Send us your suggestions

• Agenda Manager list – Use it to keep yourself informed on the focus of our research

22

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Q&A

23

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Thank You!

24

© 2015 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without Gartner's prior written permission. If you are authorized to access this publication, your use of it is subject to the Usage Guidelines for Gartner Services posted on gartner.com. The information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Gartner disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information and shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in such information. This publication consists of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice. Although Gartner research may include a discussion of related legal issues, Gartner does not provide legal advice or services and its research should not be construed or used as such. Gartner is a public company, and its shareholders may include firms and funds that have financial interests in entities covered in Gartner research. Gartner's Board of Directors may include senior managers of these firms or funds. Gartner research is produced independently by its research organization without input or influence from these firms, funds or their managers. For further information on the independence and integrity of Gartner research, see "Guiding Principles on Independence and Objectivity."

2015 Spring Update - Gartner Research & Office of the Ombudsman