Looking for independent advice? Your choices have narrowed, as analyst firm Gartner Group has just written a $US56 million cheque for rival Burton Group.
In a statement issued today, Gartner CEO Gene Hall says the company "... Burton Group has built a leading niche providing practical, how-to advice to front-line IT professionals. Thus, Burton Group is a great strategic fit for Gartner and should enable us to offer a more complete solution to every level and functional expert within an IT organization. By leveraging our scale and worldwide distribution capabilities, we expect to significantly grow Burton Group’s business over time."
Burton CEO Jamie Lewis' contribution to the statement was an anodyne “I am very excited about the opportunities for accelerated growth that Burton Group should have as part of Gartner. By combining our technical depth with Gartner’s global presence and distribution capabilities, we can reach a much broader set of clients with the most complete set of IT research and advisory services available.”
The new acquisition follows Gartner's 2005 acquisition of another rival, Meta Group. That deal arguably had positive ramifications for Australian and New Zealand organisations, as Meta analysts who were not offered jobs at Gartner - or chose not to take them - found homes at local analyst firms such as Hydrasight and IBRS.
Burton, however, does not have a local presence, leaving any Australian or New Zealand subscribers to its services dependent on Gartner continuing Burton's services, a scenario that seems likely given the statement's indication that Gartner sees the acquisition as bringing it new capabilities.