Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Microsoft-Gartner Deal (Analysts Cartel Part I)

“Analysts sell out - that’s their business model… But they are very concerned that they never look like they are selling out, so that makes them very prickly to work with.”

--Microsoft, internal document [PDF]



WE HAVE WRITTEN extensively over the past couple of years about the Gartner Group and how it really operates [1, 2, 3].



This post is part of a series that explores antitrust exhibits where Gartner and other analysts are looked at more closely.

We start with Comes vs. Microsoft Exhibit PX09701 (May 2004) [PDF], which contains details about the Gartner deal, along with some figures.

Included in this correspondence, which is added in full at the bottom, we have Gerri Elliott, who worked on changing the law against Free software in education [1, 2] and Bill Veghte (alias billv), who fights against GNU/Linux with EDGI, as we showed yesterday.

Among the recipients we have Susan Hauser, who is now using FUD to market the Microsoft/Novell deal [1, 2].

In this 2004 Microsoft-Gartner deal, worth paying attention is the part where Microsoft says: "I agree that we cannot have them [Gartner] order naked PCs."

To quote with context:

I agree that we cannot have them order naked PCs. That won’t work.

You might decide to have them order the PCs with windows pre-installed and then rebate them back some money or credit for other software.


Here are some numbers (we'll come to this in future parts):

Thanks seems clear, BTW I am carrying about $500K in my budget for next year to pay for this as one of 4 deals mike made that we need to work out of over the next 3 years.


Another tidbit:

The issue is the first concession, the granting of 3,700 Windows XP Professional Upgrade OS Licenses. Gartner is refreshing a portion of their desktops with IBM as the installer/SI. Gartner wants to use the upgrade license on these new Desktops without buying an underlying OS/license from the OEM, which we have never conceded to a customer. Our Windows Upgrade license requires an underlying OS from an OEM. Kevin has tried to position that he has Windows 2000 on the original desktops and wants to transfer the OS. We do not allow transfer of OS.


The correspondence, in full, is below.




Appendix: Comes vs. Microsoft - exhibit px08592, as text








From: Kevin Johnson Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2004 2:19 PM To: Rick Devenuti; Gerri Elliott; Bill Veghte Cc: Brian Boruff; Susan Hauser; Paul Houghton; Alain Crozier Subject: RE: Kevin Volpe/Gartner

Gerri, you and rick should decide how to handle

I agree that we cannot have them order naked PCs. That won’t work.

You might decide to have them order the PCs with windows pre-installed and then rebate them back some money or credit for other software.

I was not aware of the deal mike made. This is really bad. I hope it is documented somewhere so that it is clear both to us and to the customer what the commitment was.

We do need to honor the spirit of the commitment but be careful in how that is done. Rodrigo can also help out if you need oem advice.

thx




From: Rick Devenuti Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2004 8:10 PM To: Gerri Elliott; Kevin Johnson; Bill Veghte Cc: Brian Boruff; Susan Hauser; Paul Houghton Subject: RE: Kevin Volpe/Gartner

Thanks seems clear, BTW I am carrying about $500K in my budget for next year to pay for this as one of 4 deals mike made that we need to work out of over the next 3 years.

Do we want to wait for the call, or is one of us on point to get back to him? You want me to do this as Mike’s replacement?




From: Gerri Elliott Sent: Wed 5/26/2004 6:23 PM To: Kevin Johnson; Bill Veghte; Rick Devenuti Cc: Brian Boruff; Susan Hauser; Paul Houghton Subject: FW: Kevin Volpe/Gartner

You may be getting a complaint phone call from Kevin Volpe, CIO of Gartner. Here is the issue. Last November, as part of working an Exchange critsit, Mike Sinneck granted Gartner the following:

o Upgrade of licenses for Windows XP on 3,700 machines o Exchange 2003 CALs for 3,700 machines o $1 Million of MCS Services

NS-CC-RN 000001235850 HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL

9701 Comes v. Microsoft




o Several Hundred Thousand Dollars of Premier Services o Exchange 2003 Server Licenses o Relinquished the title to hardware/servers to Gartner for them to use to construct a lab

The issue is the first concession, the granting of 3,700 Windows XP Professional Upgrade OS Licenses. Gartner is refreshing a portion of their desktops with IBM as the installer/SI. Gartner wants to use the upgrade license on these new Desktops without buying an underlying OS/license from the OEM, which we have never conceded to a customer. Our Windows Upgrade license requires an underlying OS from an OEM. Kevin has tried to position that he has Windows 2000 on the original desktops and wants to transfer the OS. We do not allow transfer of OS.

Kevin’s position is that this is not what Sinneck told him or the spirit of our agreement. His position is that he understood that he wouldn’t have to pay for the environment and that it should not matter that these are replacement desktops. Kevin believes they are entitled to the ability, to acquire naked PC with no underlying Operating System.

We have been very flexible with this refresh, confirming in an email (attached) that Gartner can purchase a very inexpensive OS, such as Home Edition and use these upgrade rights. IBM is holding very firm with Gartner that shipping naked PCs would violate the OEM agreement with MS.

My position is we need to stay firm on this issue given the extent of our concessions above and the exposure to other customers and OEMs if we concede this point with Gartner. Please let me know if you have a differing view. Thanks all.

Regards,

Gerri

Office: (425) 707-2042

7/14/2005

MS-CC-RN 000001235851 HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL


Recent Techrights' Posts

For the First Time in a Month OSI's "OpenSource.org" Blogs and It's Basically a Microsoft Blog Post (Microsoft Controls OSI)
For the first time in a month OSI writes something and it is Microsoft propaganda composed by a Microsoft-salaried operative
Microsoft, Already Borrowing 3 Billion Dollars a Month, is Trying to Cause Many People to Resign
MSN (i.e. Microsoft) and others openly admit it
They Want Activists to Just Barely Walk and Eat, Not Do Activism Anymore
It's sort of like the ending of '1984'
Non-Free JavaScript Programs in Banks Aren't Even the Biggest Problem
Technology was supposed to make life easier; in practice, however, for most of us the opposite effect can be observed
IBM is Obliterating Fedora
"Fedora releases were shipping with an increasing number of bugs on launch day even while I was using it for a several year stretch."
 
Links 07/08/2025: US Punishes India Instead of Russia, Attacks Law Firms to Prevent Scrutiny
Links for the day
Read Us in Geminispace as Well
it's definitely a lot simpler than using a Web browser
Once a Site About BSD and GNU/Linux, and After Months of Silence, LinuxBSDos.com Comes Back Only as a Slopfarm
very frustrating
Links 07/08/2025: Hardware Wars, Mass Recall of Colgate Total Clean Mint, More Microsoft Holes Found
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/08/2025: "Right To Manage" and LoRa Analysis
Links for the day
GAFAM 'Says' is Front Page "News"
The point of journalism is to check and assess facts, not parrot what people and companies merely claim
Links 07/08/2025: Apple Makes False Promises, More Trouble for Microsoft
Links for the day
OSS Didn't Always Mean Open Source Software
"oligarchs all the way down"
The Register MS Does More Microsoft Sez or GitHub Sez (Says) Pieces
60 minutes ago
Quit Perpetuating the Narrative of Gemini Protocol 'Dying' (It's False)
The "whisper campaign" against Gemini Protocol
Criticising Social Control Media in Social Control Media
Many people are quitting Social Control Media (fewer of them announce this in public)
Slopfarms Are Typically Fake News
Slopfarms typically relay falsehoods
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: Replacing a Pocket Watch and Buying in Bulk
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 06, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 06, 2025
August Hits Microsoft Hard: Dead Divisions, Dead Products, Layoffs Again (on Week 1)
Microsoft's debt is soaring
Slopwatch: Slow Day for LLM Slop, Serial Sloppers Still at It in Their Slopfarms
The Web would be better off if those sites went offline
Red Hat Layoffs Expected in 5 Days (Monday)
"They will announce and proceed with the cuts on 08/11."
Links 06/08/2025: Substack in Trouble, Slop Sceptic Shira Perlmutter Seeks Emergency Injunction Pending Appeal
Links for the day
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: Pinephone, Reverse-Engineering, and More
Links for the day
Links 06/08/2025: Faked Values of Slop Companies and Government Bailouts
Links for the day
FOSSY 2025 Conference Safety
The GAFAM-funded FOSSY 2025 is over
Microsoft's Favourite Pay-to-Say 'Analyst' Firm Has Just Collapsed
'Analysts' that helped propel Microsoft to fictional values akin to Ponzi schemes
Ask Google (Jeeves)
What does Google "know", not know, or would rather forget (or embellish)?
They Want You To Talk About Trump or 'The Other Bill' in Relation to Trafficking of Underage Girls for Sexual Exploitation
Just something we wanted to say...
How to Quadruple Your "Goodwill" Value and Grow Your (Wall) Street "Value" From $152B to $4000B Without Producing a Single Successful Product/Service
The longer it goes on for, the bigger the implosion will be
Staying Productive
Two very reputable institutions recently told us they now reckon Microsoft is somehow funding those SLAPPs against us
A Blow for Patent Ambitions of Bill Epsteingate
It's about money
66 Countries Where More People Use iPhones (or iPads) Than Microsoft Windows, According to statCounter Data
a list of countries where iOS now exceeds Windows
Apple's iOS Bigger Than Microsoft Windows in Many Countries
This ought to alarm Microsoft
The Mainstream Media Talks About Spotify Share Price and Price Hikes, Not Its Debt Increasing by About 33% in Just 12 Months
Spotify isn't a company in good shape
New "US Editor for The Register" is 80% Microsoft and Windows
they typically just treat Microsoft like the "Holy Grail" of "IT"
Microsoft is Apparently Sending Gag Orders or NDAs to Staff That Got Laid Off (“We were told not to post on LinkedIn. Not to say anything.”)
The main lies we keep seeing
Richard M. Stallman Has Published AI Memos Since 1980 (45 Years Ago)
Back when the term AI actually meant something
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: BitTorrent and Feedly Bots
Links for the day
Windows All-Time Lows, Android All-Time Highs in Kuwait
New lows for Windows can be found in many countries this month
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 05, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 05, 2025
Openwashing Slop... Using Slop!
So get ready for "open" "hey hi" with its proprietary models to engage in openwashing, helped by serial sloppers who use the LLMs to produce fake 'articles'.
On "Tragedy of the Commons in the Production of Digital Artifacts"
There's a better way to do things. None of that should involve GAFAM.
Gemini Links 05/08/2025: Opel Zoo near Frankfurt and Alhena 5.2.5
Links for the day
The Inflammatory Influence of Social Control Media Giants
CPC's ByteDance says it's cool
Microsoft v Planet Earth
Is Microsoft profitable?
IRC Turns 37
Internet Relay Chat (short: IRC), which started in 1988, turns 37 this month
Shortly After a Microsofter Took Over The Register as Editor in Chief Microsoft Tim (Tim Anderson) is Back and It's Still Microsoft Propaganda, Sometimes Funded by Microsoft
Notice his focus
Stricter Enforcement of Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act is Sorely Needed
Who's keeping track anyway?
Calling Plagiarism "Intelligence" is Pure Genius, Brilliance!
One thing to "like" (or dislike) about LLMs is how they're falsely marketed using various buzzwords
Geminispace Promises Simplicity But Also Provides a "bunch of forums that get flood-filled by agitation against the very essence of Gemini itself"
claims of stagnation in Geminispace started because of a person who spent a long time agitating against GNU/Linux as well
Zimbabweans Aren't Into Windows or Microsoft
This cannot be good news for GAFAM
Microsoft's Washington Layoffs Aren't Everything, They're Definitely Not Happening in Just One State in the US
Washington is just more strict with WARN notices
Gemini Links 05/08/2025: Lagrange v1.18.6, No Stagnation in Geminispace, and Fake Coding (Slop)
Links for the day
The Register's Editor in Chief (Who Left for Google) Told Me "AI" Was a Bubble, But Now The Register Gets Paid to Participate in Inflating This Bubble
A lot of the online media is a scam
The Register is Desperate for Money, According to The Register
I decided to check how they're doing as a business
Some Cola Formulas Aren't Secret, But the Barrier is the Branding
That's the power of the channel/distribution, marketing, and brand recognition (accomplished through endless marketing)
Introducing Mission:Libre and FreeXR (and BreakXR)
efforts that accompany the foundations put there by the Free Software Foundation in 1985
Slopwatch: WebProNews, LinuxSecurity, and Some Success Stories
Google News still has a slopfarm issue
Links 05/08/2025: Hey Hi (AI) Passing Fads and GAFAM "Embracing the Military"
Links for the day
Links 05/08/2025: Samsung and Microsoft Layoffs
Links for the day
Rumours of Mass Layoffs at Red Hat Next Week (August 11th, 2025)
The eleventh means next Monday
IBM is Shutting Down (Piecewise)
IBM is basically being liquidated
The Debian Language Police Department (PD)
"there has never been complaints about anyone that was offended by this -off package"
Tesla's Debt More Than Doubled in 2 Years and the Company Will Operate in the Red (at a Loss) Quite Soon
If your first-quarter net income is $409 million and you borrow billions from banks, plus interest to pay on those loans, then you're not far from returning to losses
When The Register MS Says "Linux Backdoor" It Actually Talks About Malware
The leading story in The Register US/MS this morning is Microsoft
Microsoft Windows Fell to 19% "Market Share" in Montenegro
Microsoft must be well aware of this trend
Why We Also Include Gopher Links in Our Gemini (Protocol) Links
There are still many people who use Gopher to relay their messages (like blog posts). They're mostly technical people.
Shouting is an Indication of a Lack of Convincing Argument
Beware what they are attempting to distract from
Mongolia: Microsoft Windows at All-Time Low
in 2009 when Windows was at 99.45% in Mongolia the company was "worth" less than 200 billion dollars
About a Quarter of Today's "linux" News in Google News Came From One Domain and It's a Slopfarm
Not kidding!
Gemini Links 05/08/2025: Zombie Threat and Switching to NixOS
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, August 04, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, August 04, 2025
ChatGPT in Trouble
Watch out for the newer buzzwords
The Register MS Links to the Wrong statCounter Page
They link to older data
Dr. Andy Farnell Explains How Google Turned From "Librarian" Into "Oracle", Telling Us What to Think Instead of Where to Look
Google was always a lousy librarian
Microsoft Layoffs Continue in August 2025
If Microsoft is doing so well, how come about 10 rounds of layoffs in about 7 months in 2025?