[GUEST POST] IIAR Webinar: ‘Tis the season for Gartner Methodologies

On September 7^th, the CCgroup AR team joined IIAR’s latest webinar on Gartner methodologies with by David Black (LinkedIn), MVP Methodologies & Content Engagement at Gartner and moderated by Ludovic Leforestier (@lludovic, LinkedIn), from the IIAR Board. David spoke about the firm’s research methodology behind reports such as Magic Quadrants and Critical Capabilities. The AR community has always been tuned in to Gartner’s research calendars, with “Every season is Magic Quadrant season” being the mantra shared by many. As such, many AR professionals were keen to learn more from David. Whilst emphasising Gartner’s move towards more openness, he was happy to answer more in-depth questions which have unsurprisingly focused on the Magic Quadrant and Gartner’s perception of itself amongst other firms.David also offered valuable insight on Gartner’s research validation process. Our main takeaways were:

• The Gartner Methodologies team now covers IT procurement.
• Vendors included in a Gartner MQ are at the pinnacle of their market and inclusion criteria is now heavily weighted how vendors market themselves, so the more SEO the better!
• Critical Capabilities reports offer a deep dive into a particular vertical market or technology.
• Trends for Magic Quadrants include more Peer Insights relevant for each Magic Quadrant report (currently stands at over 45,000 reviews).
• The number of vendors included in the Magic Quadrants is determined by analysts – for BI it has now gone up to 37.
• Gartner’s remit continues to expand due to constant M&A and organic growth.
• Gartner will ask for specific customer references for each type of report, as criteria will vary. E.g. the customer references shared for a Magic Quadrant will not extend to vendor-specific or Vendor Profiles reports.
• NB: Gartner’s ‘magic’ benchmark for customer references for Magic Quadrants is between 5-7. Getting requests for additional references? Query why with the analyst team.
• Gartner encourages users to raise any questions or voice concerns on the research process for different reports directly with them at methodologies@gartner.com.

In summary?

I was pleasantly surprised by the progress made by Gartner to increase its clearness and transparency. The firm has evolved into a more approachable and open organisation which aims to help AR professionals throughout the Magic Quadrant season – and beyond.

Want to hear more?

The slides and recordings are available on Huddle for IIAR Members > 1709_Gartner_methodologies Suzannah Archibald (LinkedIn, @suzannah_a) is the Head of AR at CCgroup, a full-service marketing and communications agency based in Central London. 

Other posts on Gartner

• And the winners are… Celebrating the IIAR> Awards recipients for 2025 (12/25) 11/12/25
• The Wait is Over! Announcing the IIAR> Award Winners for 2024. 26/11/24
• IIAR> Webinar: top 5 lessons from the 2023 IIAR> Awards winners 28/12/23
• IIAR> Discussion Group + Viewpoints: maximise returns from your Gartner relationship 17/10/23
• IIAR> Discussion Group – Peer Reviews 21/03/23
• IIAR> Discussion Group + Viewpoints: Forrester Pricing and Negotiation (and other firms) 16/02/23
• IIAR> Discussion Group: managing analyst advisory days 19/07/22
• IIAR> Discussion Group: managing inquiries 5/11/21
• IIAR> Discussion Group: approaching research contracts negotiations in a pandemic 20/10/20
• IIAR> Webinar: Peer Insights Updates 7/07/20
• IIAR> AR Forum: Have your say on Gartner’s Initiatives for AR pros 12/06/20
• IIAR> Webinar: Gartner’s Initiatives for Analyst Relations Professionals 3/06/20
• [GUEST POST] Gartner Announces pilot to handle mergers & acquisitions updates for Magic Quadrants 26/02/20
• A turn of the tides? The IIAR> Analyst and Firm Of The Year 2019 27/11/19
• Gartner Symposium / ITxpo 2019: key takeaways for AR professionals 19/11/19
• IIAR> AR Café at Gartner Symposium in Barcelona 2019 29/10/19
• IIAR> Discussion Group: working with Gartner 16/10/19
• The IIAR> Tragic Quadrant 2018 11/10/19
• IIAR> Analyst Of The Year 2018: The Awards Unwrapped. 4/12/18
• Gartner Symposium / ITxpo 2018: key takeaways for AR professionals 16/11/18
• IIAR Discussion Group: negotiating with Gartner 12/11/18
• Join us for the IIAR Café at the Gartner Symposium in Barcelona 3/11/18
• Gartner Magic Quadrant shortcomings or how not to use the gartner magic quadrant 9/10/18
• We’ll Miss You Claire 11/09/18
• Peter Sondergaard leaves Gartner 24/08/18
• [GUEST POST] What I Learned from 5 Years at Gartner 23/07/18
• [GUEST POST] Does Israel have more cool vendors than China? 5/06/18
• Trio of analyst departures at Gartner underlines why backup strategy is so important 4/06/18
• Around Fabio Di Capua from Gartner in 10 questions 23/03/18
• Wrap-up: IIAR> Germany 2018 kick-off 12/02/18
• Around Andy Butler / ex. Gartner in 10 questions…. 9/02/18
• IIAR Discussion Group: negotiating with Gartner – is it the new seventies IBM? 6/02/18
• Who is the IIAR> Analyst of the Year 2017? 1/12/17
• [GUEST POST] IIAR Webinar: ‘Tis the season for Gartner Methodologies 15/09/17
• IIAR> Analyst Firm Webinar: Gartner Research Methodologies including the Magic Quadrant 30/05/17
• BREAKING: Gartner gobbles brand benchmarking agency L2 6/03/17
• The IIAR Tragic Quadrant for 2017 24/02/17
• 2017, a tectonic year for influencer relations? A world post Gartner + CEB and IDC sold 20/01/17
• Winners announced: IIAR Analyst of the Year 2016 6/12/16
• IIAR> Breakfast/Café meet at the Gartner Symposium in Barcelona 1/11/16
• Constellation and the curse of the (not so) magic quadrant 14/10/16
• IIAR Discussion Group: Negotiating with Gartner 11/10/16
• [GUEST POST] Analyst Relations Best Practices: Seven Tips to Make Your Company a Star at Industry Analyst Events 5/08/16
• Gartner acquires SCM World, what does it mean for AR Professionals? 2/07/16
• Around Annette Zimmermann in 10 questions 17/06/16
• Around Anthony Mullen from Gartner in 10 questions 27/04/16
• Do you need to pay Gartner to be in the Magic Quadrant? 11/03/16
• Who’s really shaping the digital future? 26/02/16
• Around Errol Rasit from Gartner in 10 Questions 10/02/16
• Around Julie Short from Gartner in 10 questions 7/12/15

Other posts on AR best practices

• IIAR> Best Practices Webinar: Sales Enablement + 30/60/90 days AR Plan, (06/25)
• IIAR> Best Practices Webinar: AR Compass, 2nd May
• IIAR> Best Practice Webinar: Getting the Most out of Analyst Advisory Sessions, 4th April
• IIAR> Best Practices Webinar: Peer Review Websites
• IIAR> Best Practice Paper: Engage the right audience, using analyst tiering
• IIAR> Discussion Group: managing analyst advisory days
• IIAR> Best Practices Paper: running and leveraging analyst inquiries
• IIAR> Webinar: Building a Skilled AR Team during the Great Opportunity
• IIAR> Best Practices Paper: Delivering AR Programmatically with Campaigns
• IIAR> Primer: Why should startups and scale-ups have an analyst relations strategy?
• IIAR> Discussion Group: managing inquiries
• The IIAR> AR Professionals & AR Agency of the Year 2021
• IIAR> Best Practices Paper: Running an industry analyst briefing
• IIAR> Webinar recap: What is analyst & influencer relations (AR)?
• IIAR> Primer: What is Analyst Relations (AR) and how is it evolving?
• IIAR> Monthly Meet-up June 21
• [GUEST POST] Teresa Cottam on the ethics of image rights
• IIAR> Webinar: Analyst Pet Peeves- Things AR Pros need to pay attention to
• IIAR> Best Practices Paper: Building an effective AR plan
• IIAR> Best Practices Paper: Scaling AR Reach
• IIAR> Best Practices Webinar: Scaling AR – connecting with the long tail is a must for your influencer strategy
• [GUEST POST] It’s a Great Time to be in Analyst Relations by Peggy O’Neill
• The IIAR> AR Professionals & AR Agency of the Year 2020
• IIAR> Discussion Group: approaching research contracts negotiations in a pandemic
• IIAR> Webinar: Truths, Lies, & Influence: How Reviews are Disrupting Analyst Relations
• IIAR> Webinar with Richard Stiennon
• IIAR> Webinar: Peer Insights Updates
• [GUEST POST] The New Normal for Analysts
• IIAR> Best Practice Call: AR Measurement
• [GUEST POST] The 7 Ups of Building Credibility Through Analyst Relations

Other posts from CC Group

• And the winners are… Celebrating the IIAR> Awards recipients for 2025 (12/25) – 11/12/25
• The Wait is Over! Announcing the IIAR> Award Winners for 2024. – 26/11/24
• [GUEST POST] Book Review: Schaffer’s guide to analyst relations transformation – 24/12/20
• [GUEST POST] The New Normal for Analysts – 23/06/20
• [GUEST POST] Informa adds IHS Markit tech analysts to equal Forrester – 22/05/19
• The role of a good AR: does it change during a crisis? – 31/08/18
• [GUEST POST] Engaging with mobile analysts … now’s the time! – 23/01/18
• [GUEST POST] IIAR Webinar: ‘Tis the season for Gartner Methodologies – 15/09/17
• [GUEST POST] IDC EMEA provide the IIAR with their current State of the Union: What’s changing for this year and next? – 25/05/17