____/ peterwn on Monday 17 March 2008 05:03 : \____
> See:
>
> http://www.stuff.co.nz/4442420a26513.html
> "Microsoft briefs Kiwis on Windows Server 2008"
>
> Especially:
>
> "Technology consultancy Gartner recently reported that Microsoft
> increased its share of the server operating system market by 1 per
> cent to 67 per cent last year, with Linux’s share of the market
> slipping to 23 per cent."
>
> Surely any self respecting journalist would know that Gartner is a
> cat's paw of Microsoft and hence issues 'feel good' PR about Microoft
> products.
>
> In any case how does Gartner know what the Linux share of the market
> is, since organisations can set up as many Linux servers as they like
> without having to obtain licences, SAL's etc etc?
>
> Even if Gartner has researched or oftained figures derived by proper
> scientific methods, the margin of error would be greater than 1%, so
> there would be some probability that Linux servers has gained on MS
> servers. In any event if all *nix servers are considered together,
> then it would be 67% Microsoft vs 33% *nix assuming Gartners figures.
>
> Since a Linux server can do twice as much as an equivalent Microsoft
> server, then even on Gartner's figures, 50% of the work is being done
> by Microsoft servers and 50% by *nix servers.
>
> I would venture to ay that Gartner dared not say there was more than
> a !% growth in Microsoft's share lest the whole IT world strts
> laughing with derision at Gartner's figures.
>
> Finally how the hell should figures such as this influence IT
> Departments' purchasing decisions. Gartner and Microsoft must surely
> presume that IT managers are a bunch of Baa-sheep. Now everyone knows
> that New Zealand has millions of Merinos, Romneys, Drysdales and other
> fine sheep, but I for one did know that New Zealand's IT Departments
> were full of sheep.
Ah! Microsoft's favourite and seemingly prestigious shill strikes again. For
those who don't know Gartner, here is some background reading (IDC, Jupiter,
Burton, F&S and several others are no better). Gartner has Bill Gates as its
investor and it does a lot of business with Microsoft, even has lunch with
Microsoft executives. Microsoft says explicitly in its internal documents that
analysts' business model is "selling out" (see it here:
http://antitrust.slated.org/www.iowaconsumercase.org/011607/3000/PX03096.pdf ).
Last week only:
Need some data to support your cause? Hire an analyst
,----[ Quote
| CIO.com raises an important issue about the integrity of research being done
| by industry analysts. Namely, if a sponsor pays for the research, do they get
| favorable treatment in that research?
|
| [...]
|
| I'm not suggesting that the research is corrupted. I'm just suggesting that
| it's hard to remove the taint of sponsored research. Just take a look at
| Gartner's "Hype Cycle" on open source, which is woefully inaccurate, probably
| in part because Gartner gets its information from the vendors who sponsor its
| research, not the customers who are buying into open source in droves.
|
| So, the next time you read a report, blog entry, or article, consider who
| pays the writer (including when reading this blog).
`----
http://www.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9894178-16.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=TheOpenRoad
http://advice.cio.com/thomas_wailgum/it_research_brought_to_you_by?page=0%2C0
A bit older:
Gartner analyst: OOXML important domino
,----[ Quote ]
| Businessweek (Jennifer L Schenker) quoted Gartner analyst Michael Silver last
| week who puts OOXML in a wider commercial perspective...
|
| "appear more open". This is how Gartner views the credibility of the new
| [OOXML] openness....
|
| Look how optimistic Gartner's Silver is...
`----
http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-44362/gartner-analyst:ooxml-important-domino
Buy Vista or die
,----[ Quote ]
| Gartner research vice president Michael Silver said that outfits have delayed
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| their Vista migrations to the point of stupidity and now some are considering
| late 2008 or even 2009, while others mull skipping the OS completely.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/12/07/vista-die
NY Times bans Microsoft analysts from Microsoft stories
,----[ Quote ]
| Part of the problem stems from the reticence of companies such as
| IDC and Gartner to reveal their clients. That should make everyone
| nervous, but it doesn't. So called objective technology publications
| keep publishing material bought by vendors without telling you this.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/15/nytimes_ms_ban/
Other Underreported Stories: Analyst Integrity?
,----[ Quote ]
| There was a pretty interesting discussion with views on both sides. Some felt
| that the rumors have been so persistent that, well, where there's smoke
| there's fire. Others saying they have heard from someone who heard from
| someone that once they started paying their exposure improved. Others saying
| it's just like the rumors that magazine advertisers get better reviews, an
| accusation that has been levied to Ziff-Davis publications, as well as
| photography and stereo equipment magazines for years.
`----
http://weblog.infoworld.com/openresource/archives/2007/12/other_underrepo.html?source=rss
Credibility Of Analysts
,----[ Quote
| Research firms make their living by offering expert advice to business and
| technology people about the best ways to invest their IT dollars. It can be
| invaluable insight, but only if that analysis comes with no strings attached.
| And on that, there's no guarantee.
|
| Forrester, Gartner, IDC, and others insist their output is squeaky clean, yet
| they also rake in millions providing services to the very same companies they
| monitor, heavyweights like Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle. Which leads to
| a question that continues to dog the research firms: How much influence do
| technology vendors have over their work?
`----
http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=CTCBZVQX5MTSCQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=178601879&queryText=analyst+influence
Ballmer's Remarks Inspire A TCO Trip Down Memory Lane
,----[ Quote ]
| The email surfaced in early 2007, while Microsoft was embroiled in an Iowa
| class-action lawsuit over alleged monopoly-pricing practices. (The company
| settled the lawsuit in February, 2007 for $179 million.) According to the
| email -- part of a slew of subpoenaed documents Microsoft would have
| preferred to keep to itself -- at least one company official argued that it
| would be "easier" not to own up to sponsoring the IDC study.
|
| The Microsoft exec, Kevin Johnson, now the head of Microsoft's Windows
| product team, wrote that he was concerned about competitors turning
| Microsoft's sponsorship of the study to their own advantage. Oddly enough,
| however, Johnson focused on the fact that the IDC study picked Windows as the
| TCO champ in only four out of five outlined business scenarios.
`----
http://www.bmighty.com/blog/main/archives/2008/03/ballmers_remark.html
The industry needs to just embargo such 'analysts'. They are seemingly innocent
people capable of writing a report and lacking guilt/ethics to the point of
accepting cash to make up methods that lead to lies.
--
~~ Best of wishes
Roy S. Schestowitz | "Spam enchanted evening..."
http://Schestowitz.com | Open Prospects | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
Tasks: 168 total, 1 running, 167 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie
http://iuron.com - knowledge engine, not a search engine
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