Gartner Tech Growth & Innovation

Conference Key Take-Aways 2021

July 20 – 21, 2021 | Americas | Virtual

The Most Important Gathering for

Technology and Solution Providers

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 Accelerated Trends

Contents
Letter From the Conference Chairs 3 Agenda Tracks 8

Conference Features 4 Featured Sessions 9

Attendee Demographics 5 Back at the Office 11

Keynotes 6 Discover the Power of Gartner 12

 Gartner Tech Growth & Innovation Conference Key Take-Aways 2021

Letter From the Conference Chairs

We are truly honored to have had the opportunity to host two days filled with insightful and forward-
thinking conversations with such an amazing cohort of technology and service provider leaders and
executives at the virtual Gartner Tech Growth & Innovation Conference.
As 2021 continues, technology disruption accelerates, in addition to shifting buyer behaviors and
increasing competition. Technology leaders continue to seek to manage and accelerate growth in
the postpandemic environment and to take advantage of market opportunities, buyer insights,
innovative marketing practices, and latest emerging technologies and trends.
This year’s conference was uniquely designed to address these challenges, and answer pressing
questions, such as:
• How can we build strategies to accelerate growth for tech startups?
• How can we create product management strategies for higher value and growth?
• How can we reinvent marketing to address new opportunities?
• How do we leverage emerging technologies and trends to seize growth?
I hope that you left the conference feeling inspired and armed with the data-backed insights needed
to either answer these questions or validate what you are currently doing to drive growth in your
organization to impact success.
We look forward to welcoming you back to Gartner Tech Growth & Innovation Conference in 2022.
We will be sharing the details for next year’s conference very soon, so please check the Gartner
Conference Calendar often for updates.

Eric Trenk Christy Uher Ferguson

Conference Co-Chair and Conference Co-Chair and
VP Analyst VP Analyst

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 Gartner Tech Growth & Innovation Conference Key Take-Aways 2021

Conference Features
Explore the 2021 virtual program, which was filled with live, interactive and engaging sessions where attendees
learned from Gartner experts, progressive practitioners and their peers in one easy-to-navigate conference portal.

Interactive sessions Networking

Besides the breakout sessions and peer In addition to interactive sessions, the new
conversations attendees joined Ask the Braindates platform allowed attendees to
Expert sessions, roundtables and workshops connect virtually in small-group, peer-to-peer
to learn from the experiences of their peers. meetings on specific topics of their choice.

One-on-one sessions
Attendees met with a Gartner expert for a
30-minute, private consultation to address
their most pressing challenges.

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 Gartner Tech Growth & Innovation Conference Key Take-Aways 2021

Attendee Demographics
Who attended in 2021
The virtual Gartner Tech Growth & Innovation Conference 2021, Americas,
brought together 3,000+ leaders and executives to discuss the trends
accelerating growth.

Number of attendees Top 5 countries Top job titles

23% C-level U.S. Marketing
20% VP Canada Product managers
20% Director Brazil CEO
15% Management U.K. Analyst relations
22% Other Germany

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 Gartner Tech Growth & Innovation Conference Key Take-Aways 2021

Keynotes
Gartner Keynote
Daryl Plummer
Accelerating Your Growth in a New Era of Transformation
Distinguished VP Analyst and
The past year brought unprecedented change for technology providers that has Gartner Fellow, Gartner
influenced technology acceleration, product innovation and buyer behavior. In this
keynote, Gartner experts provided insights into the opportunities these changes
present for accelerating growth. We shared how emerging technologies are creating
opportunities for value; how continuous product adaptation is needed to thrive in Jim Hare
this era of rapid innovation; and how shifting buyer expectations are challenging Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner
providers to realign their go-to-market strategies.

Key take-aways:
• Providers must imagine, explore and support new value scenarios or get left Jen Singleton
behind by those that do. You must be built for change to successfully grow. Senior Director Analyst, Gartner
• Combinatorial digital innovation — fusing different technologies together —
opens new possibilities for differentiation and business growth.
• By 2025, over 80% of tech providers will compete on product experiences. A
strong focus on product experiences means the death of the traditional product
life cycle.
• 95% of marketers indicate they have a customer focus, but only 5% of marketing
content focuses on the customer.
• Buyers are seeking technology providers as strategic partners, not just to solve
known business problems but to drive extended value from their investments.

Source: Gartner
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 Gartner Tech Growth & Innovation Conference Key Take-Aways 2021

Keynotes
Guest Keynote
Peter Hinssen
Seizing Business Growth in the “Never Normal” Era
Author, Entrepreneur and Expert
Peter Hinssen discussed this age of the “Never Normal,” the constantly changing on Disruptive Innovation
business environment, with seismic shocks (technological, biological, ecological,
even geopolitical) driving systemic shifts. Every single one of these shifts offers
opportunities, and companies have to have an eye on the “Day After Tomorrow” to
seize these chances. The most successful businesses in the never normal era will
capitalize on a combination of velocity, agility, creativity, innovation, networking and
an appetite for experimentation. He provides a framework that every company can
use to measure and improve its preparedness for future success.

Key take-aways:
• Use of technologies such as big data, mobile, cloud and artificial intelligence (AI)
has become “normal.”
• There is not one “new normal” coming. There will be a constant evolution to new
normals. We must keep a keen eye not just on tomorrow, but on the day after
tomorrow.
• We will not go back to stability. In the next decade, we will see more volatility in
operating models and more opportunity for disruption.
• You must determine your strategy, structure and culture for a world that is
constantly moving — the never normal.

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 Gartner Tech Growth & Innovation Conference Key Take-Aways 2021

Agenda Tracks
At the conference, attendees explored an array of content and Gartner research specifically
designed for technology and service provider leaders and their teams, across four agenda tracks
and two spotlight tracks.

Driving Growth for Tech Startups
The pandemic caused startups and scaling tech companies to sharpen their focus
and differentiation. With the right approaches, these companies are poised for growth.
This track offered insights to increase customer acquisition, product strategy and
market expansion.
Product Management Strategies for Higher Value
and Growth
The pace of change in technology, business models and buyer behavior are
accelerating the need to create new products and farm the existing portfolio.
This track helped attendees learn how to evolve their products and product
management function to meet these challenges.
Tuning Your Marketing Engine to Accelerate Growth
To make a bigger impact on the business and drive growth, tech marketers are
reassessing where to channel their investments and efforts. This track provided timely
insights on differentiation, ABM, sales enablement and customer marketing to forge
a new path forward.
Leveraging Emerging Technologies and Trends
to Seize Growth
Digital technologies and trends such as AI, hyperautomation and edge computing
continue to emerge at a rapid pace. They enable differentiation, open new markets,
and threaten current ones. This track highlighted the most promising technologies
and trends, and how to build a sustainable growth strategy for them.
Spotlight track: Growing the Value of Analyst Relations to
the Business
Responding to market dynamics and customer needs requires analyst relations
leaders to filter and direct relevant information to inform decisions. In this track,
analyst relations leaders learned how to drive greater impact while developing
their teams to be stronger contributors.
Spotlight track: Maximizing the Effectiveness of Cross-
Functional Teams
Technology leaders increasingly must work across functional boundaries to make decisions
and drive initiatives for growth. This track highlighted conference topics that are critical
across functional areas and are recommended for teams attending the conference together.

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 Gartner Tech Growth & Innovation Conference Key Take-Aways 2021

Featured Sessions
In addition to interactive sessions and keynotes, attendees gained access to 40+ breakout sessions led by
Gartner experts. Explore a few of the most popular sessions from the 2021 conference.

Top Strategic Business Trends for
Tech Providers
John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst,
Gartner
COVID-19 is bringing the future forward, but unevenly.
This uneven acceleration has forced CIOs to rip up
their old plans and start anew. In this session, attendees
reviewed the top 5 strategic business priorities, how
those priorities will shift spending patterns and how to
get in front of them.
Five Myths of Product-Led Growth Looking Ahead to Product Management
Jeff Chamberlain, Senior Director Analyst, Gartner
in 2025
Scot MacLellan, Senior Director Analyst,
Product-led growth is at the peak of inflated
Gartner
expectations in Gartner Hype Cycle™ terminology.
There are elements that are applicable to any In the coming five years, product management will
technology provider but not all aspects are for change more than it has since its inception as a
everyone. Getting it wrong will slow your growth professional discipline. Product managers put both
at best and kill the company at worst. This session their company’s growth and their own professional
past tense highlighted five of the key myths and growth at risk unless they adapt the practice to the
discussed the good and bad in these different points. changes outlined in this session.

Key take-aways: Key take-aways: Key take-aways:

• CIOs are planning their largest investments in areas
related to digital transformation.
• Enterprises are digitizing in four key areas: value
proposition, internal operations, supply chain, and
customer and partner interactions.
• In 2020, the top 5 IT vendors grew 12.1% and added
$103.7B in revenue. The next 5 vendors grew 9.1%
and added $35.8B in revenue. The next 90 vendors
declined 0.7% and lost $13.3B in revenue.
• The best ambassador you have for growth is • The role of product management is shifting
engagement with your solution across presales, in focus from process, data and insights to
onboarding, usage or expansion. outcomes.
• Free offers help, but there are many other sources • Manage ecosystems proactively as a priority
of information that lead to being on the shortlist for and hedge on multiple digital giants for affinity,
a purchase. partnerships or collaboration.
• The biggest obstacle in using freemium or free trials • Apply a continuous delivery approach no matter
as a customer acquisition strategy is getting buyer what the deployment cadence happens to be.
decision makers involved.

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 Gartner Tech Growth & Innovation Conference Key Take-Aways 2021

Featured Sessions
In addition to interactive sessions and keynotes, attendees gained access to 40+ breakout sessions led by
Gartner experts. Explore a few of the most popular sessions from the 2021 conference.

Aligning on Customer Value to Drive Growth How Analyst Relations Delivers Growth
Enabled by Emerging Technology Want to dig deeper? Explore these related
David Yockelson, VP Analyst, Gartner Smarter With Gartner articles:
Technology providers often struggle to articulate a Lindsay McKinney, Senior Director Analyst,
Gartner “5 Steps to Validate New High-Tech Product Planning”
consistent and linked view of their value across sales,
marketing, product and customer success. This can External forces, emerging trends and new technologies “Are Tech Product Marketers Creating Effective
create inconsistency and confusion for buyers, resulting impact the competitiveness of a vendor’s offerings. Thought Leadership Marketing Programs?”
in poor performance. This session provided a framework Analyst relations identifies market signals, implications
for ensuring an integrated approach to buyer value and actions for leaders and the business to respond. “6 Key Forces Shaping Technology and Service
across strategic vision and tactical execution. This session included best practices and examples on Providers Through 2025”
how analyst relations can help drive growth.
Key take-aways:
• Ensure a deep understanding of what value means Key take-aways:
Want to dig deeper? Explore these related
to buyers through segmentation and planning. • Analyst relations must identify growth goals that Gartner webinars:
• Value ≠ ROI. If you haven’t established your value, can be aided by third-party advisory.
there can be no ROI discussion. • Commit to a “build with” model where analysts can Effectively Use Customer Insights to Build a Stronger
advise the business using real-time market data. Product Strategy
• Link your buyers’ value drivers to the outcomes they
seek through your differentiated capabilities. • Review analyst insight and contextualize research to 3 Steps for Tech Providers to Win More Deals With Free
• Align resources across functions to build, market, determine how to action and respond to market needs. Trials and Freemiums
sell, and deliver value consistently and contiguously • Host strategic advisory with analysts for them to focus
Best Practices for Tech Providers to Increase Sales to
across and within accounts. on your priorities and provide recommendations.
Existing Customers

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 Gartner Tech Growth & Innovation Conference Key Take-Aways 2021

Back at the Office

Next steps
After reviewing the research and recommendations presented at the virtual Gartner Tech Growth & Innovation
Conference 2021, attendees are able to develop clear action items to implement in the future. To get the most
from the conference experience and to share insights with colleagues, we suggest these next steps:

Revisit session content Download Circle back

Revisit session content and watch sessions you Download session documentation, Circle back with your peers from the
were unable to join in the Gartner Conference recap notes from your Gartner one-on- conference to keep the conversation
Portal. Virtual breakout sessions are available one meeting and create a 30-, 60- and going and grow your professional
on-demand to registered attendees up to 90 90-day action plan with your team. network. Use the hashtag #GartnerTGI
days post-conference. to share insights on social media.

Attended as a team? Follow up with us

Continue the conversation with your colleagues Follow up with us at GlobalConferences@gartner.com
and continue to collaborate with your stakeholders to provide feedback or a testimonial, or if you need
after the conference. help turning your ideas into actions.

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 Gartner Tech Growth & Innovation Conference Key Take-Aways 2021

Discover the Power of Gartner

The definitive, comprehensive research and advisory resource for technology
and solution providers.

Gartner works with technology and service provider leaders and their teams at
many global organizations to equip them with insights, advice and tools across
these key initiatives:
• Emerging technologies and trends’ impact on products and services
• Product planning
• Demand generation
• Customer acquisition for tech CEOs
• Analyst relations best practices
• Portfolio growth, vision and strategy

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