A recent road trip to visit a number of IT vendors and service providers on the West Coast of the United States yielded lots of great comments and suggestions. Why just vendors, you might ask? Vendors can be both clients and the objects of our analysis; their perspectives on both sides of this equation are important for us to understand.

Sally Pinkerton, VP Vendor Relations, accompanied me on this trip. To meet the specific needs of vendors, the Office of the Ombudsman includes a vendor relations function that helps vendors understand how best to interact with Gartner and acts as a clearinghouse for issues with Gartner research findings, processes and policies. Sally's team reports to me because so often queries that come in as ombudsman issues require that both departments get involved - indeed, often that we work together, to address them.

It was fantastic for us to meet vendors face to face, on their turf, without specific "issues" to deal with. We asked for their feedback, and wow did we get it. We've since come back and made some pretty detailed recommendations to Gartner senior management about addressing this feedback.

Here are a couple of things raised by more than one company:
- We haven't articulated a clear product strategy that addresses vendor client needs. Response: The fact is, we do have a cohesive strategy, and to describe it we've scheduled a call for Analyst Relations contacts (and anyone else who's interested - contact ombudsman@gartner.com). The call will take place on 14 September at 11:30 AM U.S. Eastern Time.
- Ordering reprints seems to take longer than it should. What can be done to simplify the process? While we already offer an option to place a "rush" reprints order, we're now working with the Reprints department to create a simple, step-by-step "How to Order Reprints" guide.

We make the same offer to other vendors, as well as end users - clients and non-clients. If you would like us to visit you at your site, please let your Gartner Account Executive know, or if you don't have one, contact us at ombudsman@gartner.com. We'll make a point of stopping by next time we're in your area.