AMR, which is recognized for its studies based on the juncture of business processes and technology for the supply chain professionals, is expected to expand Gartner’s research offerings and compliment its consulting and events businesses, according to a company release.
Supply chain executives are becoming more integral in the IT decision-making process, said Chris Lafond, chief financial officer for Gartner. “In that area a lot of the IT decisions are being jointly made or heavily determined by the business side of the organization.”
By bringing the two research firms together, Gartner hopes to establish a highly complimentary partnership with insight into emerging decision-making processes. “We thought that bringing together our expertise on the IT side and their expertise in the supply side would be a really powerful combination,” said Lafond.
Gene Hall, Gartner's CEO was quoted to say that supply chain management is inextricably linked to IT and become a growing issue for many organizations. “We expect the acquisition to give us immediate presence in this market and the ability to generate substantial synergies by selling AMR Research products to Gartner clients and Gartner products to AMR Research clients,” Hall said in the announcement.
AMR’s products will reach a much larger client base with access to Gartner’s distribution capabilities, Lafond indicated. “Our distribution capabilities far exceed what AMR could do on their own quickly,” he said. The acquisition takes advantage of Gartner’s sales and distribution capacity.
Gartner intends to retain the vast majority of the AMR brand, content and staff, according to Lafond. The firm will acquire AMR for approximately $64 million in cash, subject to closing adjustments.
Adrienne Baker is associate editor at Information Management. She can be reached at adrienne.baker@sourcemedia.com.
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