TrendAlert: After META – Vendor Benefits and Buyer

One year after Gartner's acquisition of rival META Group, we are revisiting the deal and how the transition is going for Gartner, for the IT research vendors who stood to gain from the META shift, and for the buyers who were META clients. Based on interviews with buyers and users of IT research, a group of IT research vendors positioned to benefit from the META transition, and Gartner itself, the Briefing provides a snapshot of the current state of IT research. It analyzes how Gartner approached converting META customers, how other IT research vendors have reacted and benefited from the increased interest in their offerings as an alternative to META's, and how buyers have responded to the transition and Gartner's execution of it. Gartner is meeting its targets, retaining 50-55 percent of META's 2004 renewal business base. However, the Briefing uncovers a level of buyer dissatisfaction with the transition and a continuing interest in new 'second source' alternatives, so Gartner is not assured of retaining the META revenues in the next renewal cycle. The Briefing notes that buyers could become more price sensitive as IT research prices generally inch up, and identifies where IT research vendors might offer buyers new types of research products now that they are open to such alternatives. It lists three imperatives for information managers who are looking to fill information gaps left by the META transition.