Gartner News

Fort Myers-based McGarvey Development Company is in the final stages of completing a 125,000-square-foot, three-story building for Gartner Inc.

MADRID — As Spain enters its second recession in as many years, Apple is flourishing. Renovation on a 19th-century, seven-floor building with more than 6,000 square meters (64,600 square feet) of floor space on Madrid's central Puerta del Sol square is under way to house Apple's new Spanish flagship store, according to the mayor's office. Apple is in talks with the building's owner to use three floors as an outlet, said a person with knowledge of the matter, asking not to be named because the discussions are confidential. The lure of Apple's products and retail stores helped the world's largest technology company by market value win consumers even in markets where spending power is declining. With almost half of young people out of work and 18 months of falling retail sales, Apple sold more than 800,000 iPhones in Spain in the first nine months of 2011, up 60 percent from a year earlier, according to researcher Gartner Inc. "The Apple evangelists will buy these products, with or without an economic crisis," said Victor Conde, a marketing professor at Universidad Nebrija. "They may get by without dining out much or going to the theater for a play as long as they're able to have the latest iPhone." Apple's Spanish expansion is catching up with other European markets. Its current five stores in Spain compare with 33 in Britain, nine each in France and Italy, and eight in Germany. Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., plans a flagship store in Amsterdam, said Tanya Ridd, a London-based spokeswoman. It's also considering its first flagship in Berlin, said two people with knowledge of the matter. Ridd declined to comment on Apple's German plans. Underlining its intent to boost sales in markets outside the United States, Apple last month appointed John Browett, 48, to lead its 361-store business. As chief executive of Dixons Retail, Britain's largest consumer-electronics retailer, Browett forged a close relationship with Apple, including striking a deal to sell the iPad ahead of rival electronics retailers in Britain. He also implemented store formats and added service areas similar to the Genius Bar in Apple stores. In October, Apple said 30 of its 40 new locations this year will be abroad. "That type of store in Madrid will allow Apple to strengthen its position as a trend-setter," said Alfredo Arahuetes, dean of Comillas Pontifical University's business school. "They open stores in landmarks because they want to improve their visibility and access for customers." Apple is developing the downtown building, nicknamed Tio Pepe after a brand of sherry that has for decades advertised on top of the structure, the mayor's office said in December. Spokeswoman Maria Antonia Landero said the office has to give permission for the renovation because it's in a historic building in the downtown area. After the basic renovation is finished in April, work on the interior design will start, and Apple and the building's owner, real estate company Ana Maria Sol, are in talks about the details, said the person with knowledge of the matter. Apple spokesman Paco Lara declined to comment on the company's plans in Spain, saying "it's logical to think there will be store openings this year as we had two openings in 2010 and three last year." Ana Maria Sol also declined to comment. "I'm very excited about the possibility of having an Apple store in the downtown area," Ignacio Galaso, 26, an intern at Gas Natural SDG, said at the Apple outlet in the Parquesur shopping mall 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) south of downtown. That January day, the Apple store was buzzing with people while the local Burger King and Zara clothing store were almost empty. "I haven't bought the new iPhone yet. If I had 600 euros, I would buy it right away," said Galaso, who spent 90 euros ($118) on an AirPort Express to strengthen wireless signals at home. Apple opened its first Spanish outlet in Barcelona in September 2010 — the month that Moody's Investors Service cut Spain's Aaa credit rating and the country's workers disrupted transport and television broadcasts in the first general strike in eight years to protest government spending cuts. Apple's new store might struggle as the "economy in Spain is certainly not ideal," said Carolina Milanesi, a research vice president at Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner. "It's not a question of getting revenue from the store from Day One. But Apple always invests in stores for the long term." Spain fell back into a recession in the last quarter of 2011, its second since the end of 2009, and may contract 1.5 percent this year as the government accelerates spending cuts, the Bank of Spain estimates. Spain's unemployment rate rose to 22.9 percent, the highest in 15 years, in the fourth quarter from 21.5 percent in the previous three months.

"We believe Gartner's evaluation of CA Technologies speaks to the strength of our portfolio and our ability to meet our customers' needs." Gartner's Vendor Ratings assess all the different aspects of a technology provider, such as its strategy, organization, products, technology, marketing, financials and support.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc. A reported its results for the second quarter.A Net income for Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc.

The report evaluates the capabilities of vendors of end-to-end Service Assurance and Service Fulfillment products and assesses those that deliver multi-service and multi-technology OSS solutions on a global scale.

Changepoint now offers industry-leading resource management capabilities to help professional services organizations with growing, diverse resource pools plan, manage and deploy resources with maximum effectiveness.

Oracle Identity Management solutions were positioned in the Leaders quadrants, in the two recently published Gartner Magic Quadrant reports.

Computer shipments in Western Europe totaled 16.3 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 16% decline from the equivalent period in 2010, according to Gartner .

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Gartner's earnings conference call for the fourth quarter and full year 2011.

Gartner Inc. reported its results for the fourth quarter. Gartner is an information technology research and advisory company, which offers independent and objective research and analysis on the information technology, computer hardware, software, communications and related technology industries.

6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Manhattan Software, the global leader in enterprise real estate software and a leader in the 2011 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Integrated Workplace Management Systems, announced today a strategic partnership with Indiabulls Real Estate.

Also, 2011 ended with new marquee customers including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, First Coast Service Options, Northwestern University, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, The Methodist Hospital and Xtra Mart Convenience Stores.

Performance Management and Business Intelligence together in a A single solution leveraging Microsoft technology and Tagetik's passion for performance Tagetik, a global provider of enterprise software solutions for Performance Management, Enterprise Governance, Risk & Compliance and Business Intelligence, today announced a major A release of ' ... (more)

MarketingPilot provides a strong set of MRM capabilities for marketers in workflow, planning, campaign management, digital asset management, budgeting and other key areas.

Gartner defines BPA as the business modeling space in which business professionals and IT analysts collaborate on business architecture, transformation and improvement, including process analysis and design to support BP improvement initiatives.

Business analytics software provider SAS, a leader in integrated marketing management, announced today it has been placed in the Leaders quadrant in Gartner Inc.'s latest report Magic Quadrant for Marketing Resource Management1.

Terracotta Inc . today announced record revenue for 2011. The company more than doubled annual revenue.

Taiwanese PC vendors will continue to have a hard time in the European personal computer market as it will take time to solve the eurozone's debt problems, market research firm Gartner Inc.

Gartner, Inc. will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday, February 7, 2012. Gartner is an information technology research and advisory company, which offers independent and objective research and analysis on the information technology, computer hardware, software, communications and related technology industries.

Chrysler Group reported its first annual profit in years, and the U.S. auto industry displayed renewed vigor, posting January sales numbers that were the strongest for the month since 2008.