Gartner, Align Thyself

The project-decision processes and budget prioritizationwere a mystery. In the absence of a clearly understooddecision-making process, employees often ascribed obscuremotives to any project approval decision. “It began to lookmore like a political decision than a good businessdecision,“ Collins says.

Digging the Hole, Part II: Trying to Have It All

Gartner's aggressive acquisition strategy strained thecompany further. Since it went public in 1993, Gartner hasacquired or made significant investments in 30 companies,including Inteco, the Internet research and advisory serviceformerly based in Norwalk, Conn., and San Jose, Calif.-basedmarket research company Dataquest. “We were on a course todiversify the company's product line to gain market share,and over the long run that would give us greater sustainedprofitability,“ says Gartner CFO Regina Paolillo.

Competitors like Cambridge, Mass.-based ForresterResearch were growing faster than Gartner, partly by jumpingon the Internet bandwagon, notes Sandra Notardonato, ananalyst with Boston-based investment company Adams, Harkness& Hill. “Whether they liked it or not, Gartner becameknown as the 'Y2K shop,' while competitors became known fortackling the Internet and tomorrow's technology,“ shesays.

Integrating the numerous acquisitions that resulted fromGartner's diversification strategy was a challenge. “Youwant to integrate the offerings and drive efficiencies,integrate billing and sales, check security, integrateinfrastructure, and ultimately as a research organizationyou want to take the knowledge you've acquired and plug itinto the company's intellectual capital,“ Stanco says. Whena company has existing alignment problems, though, that'stough to do, he acknowledges.