Gideon Gartner

Founder of Gartner Group (now Gartner, Inc.), Gartner built one of the most influential IT research and advisory firms in the world.

IT "advisory" firms are distinct from consultancies, in that they provide "continuous" advice to clients—defined in renewable (but open-ended) contracts which typically include a mix of "deliverables" including (but not limited to) content; client interaction with analysts and/or experts; and events. "Gartner Group became the preferred place a corporate client went when it had any question about the IT industry," noted one staffer.

He founded Gartner Group (now called Gartner, Inc.) in 1979, and served as its CEO and Chairman through April 1991. In 1979, the primary "advisory" firms in Information Technology (IT) were IDC (International Data Corporation, part of IDG), Dataquest (now part of Gartner), and Yankee Group. Gartner's innovations, which were aimed at creating an advisory model which would address the evolving and complex needs of IT professionals and firms, included:

-Selling to multiple constituencies
-Financing
-Nationwide sales organization
-Sales measurement and compensation model
-Peer-level advisors
-Broad focus
-Research process and organizational culture

In later years, Gartner founded Soundview Technologies and Giga Information Group.

He was a founding director of the IT History Society.