We received a comment posted by Greg Coticchia of LogicLibrary (a vendor) asking about Gartner analyst consulting activities and incentives. Since this is probably a question on the minds of many, we've elected to respond to it here (rather than in the comments).

Greg's questions were:
"How are the Gartner analysts incented? Is there a divide between consulting and publishing (especially when covering vendors?) How are potential 'conflicts' like these handled or disclosed to readers and customers? (These seem inevitable and similar to the Big 5 conflicts between consulting and accounting that we witnessed in the last several years)."

Our response:
Gartner analyst compensation is a combination of fixed salary and bonus. The bonus is determined by a weighted combination of quantitative and qualitative measures for written research, inquiries and client-facing activities. It also depends on overall corporate performance. There is no direct relationship between Gartner revenue received from vendors and analyst compensation or research agendas.

In addition, Gartner analysts may receive a one-time incentive payment for consulting business they've identified that is successfully closed by Gartner Consulting (regardless of the analyst who works on the project, if any). This amount, when awarded, is a very small percentage of analysts' overall compensation. Gartner consultants do not receive any incentive payments for the closure of Gartner Research business. There are no other forms of incentives for "leads" shared between consultants and analysts.

It is possible, and likely, that an analyst will do consulting for both vendors and end-users in their area of coverage. There are numerous safeguards to prevent analysts from manipulating this situation, such as:

• A limit on the number paid days an analyst can spend with any one vendor


• Rigorous peer review processes to identify potential conflicts of interest


• Management approval required for all paid engagements


• Analysts are restricted from using content derived from specific Consulting engagements in their research


• Continuous random client satisfaction surveys by a 3rd party for both vendors and end-users


• Scrutiny from both vendors and end-users pointing out any perceived irregularities.