Gartner Names Maureen O'Connell as New Chief Financial & Administrative Officer
STAMFORD, CONN., September 12, 2002 -- Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB), the world's leading technology research and advisory firm, announced today the appointment of Maureen E. O'Connell as executive vice president, chief financial and administrative officer, effective September 23, 2002. She will have responsibility for the Company's worldwide finance, legal, tax, treasury, business development, human resources, workplace infrastructure, strategic pricing, investor relations and internal audit functions, as well as having direct client responsibilities. O'Connell will report directly to Michael D. Fleisher, Gartner chairman and chief executive officer. She replaces current chief financial officer Regina M. Paolillo who, as previously announced, is leaving the Company at the end of September.

O'Connell, 40, joins Gartner from Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller, where she was formerly chief financial officer and was recently promoted to the role of executive vice president, finance, reporting to the chairman. During her tenure at Barnes & Noble, O'Connell successfully led a number of significant financial transactions for the company, including the issuance of a convertible bond, an initial public offering, several acquisitions, and a revolving credit facility.

"Maureen is exceptionally well-qualified to assume the responsibilities of Gartner CFO," said Fleisher. "She is an accomplished, results-oriented senior financial executive with clear strategic, managerial and operational expertise. In addition to proven business leadership and financial acumen, she brings a wealth of professional experience in the publishing and media sector and a clear understanding of a subscription-based model, which is ideal for Gartner."

Fleisher continued, "Maureen has a reputation for honesty and personal integrity, and has extensive experience in managing communication with Wall Street investors and analysts. She will be a strong addition to the Gartner senior management team."

"Gartner has an extraordinarily powerful brand, a strong business model, and an unmatched reputation for independent and objective content and advice," said O'Connell. "I'm looking forward to building upon the Company's existing financial strength and am fully committed to the strategy to continue delivering superior levels of profitability and cash flow."

Prior to joining Barnes & Noble, O'Connell served as the chief financial officer of Publishers Clearing House from 1998 to 2000, where she was responsible for all of the financial functions of the $1 billion direct marketing company. Previously, she was the chief financial officer at BMG Direct, the direct marketing arm for music clubs at Bertelsmann AG.

From 1990 to 1997, O'Connell played a key role at Primedia (NYSE: PRM), a leading media and publishing company, as it grew from a startup to over $1.5 billion in sales. As one of Primedia's first hires, she was instrumental in developing its financial infrastructure, and evaluating and integrating acquisitions. O'Connell also served as chief financial officer of two divisions of Primedia - Newbridge Communications and Newfield Publications. She began her career with Cooper's & Lybrand and Equitable Financial Companies.

O'Connell holds a BS in accounting and economics from the Stern School of Business at New York University and is a Certified Public Accountant. She serves on the Board of Directors of Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE: BZH). She has been named one of CFO magazine's "Financial Executives Who Will Make a Difference in the Next Decade" and Irish American magazine's "Business One Hundred" two years in a row. O'Connell lives in Greenwich, Connecticut with her husband and two children.


About Gartner
Gartner, Inc. is a research and advisory firm that helps more than 10,500 clients understand technology and drive business growth. Gartner's businesses consist of Gartner Research, Gartner Consulting, Gartner Measurement and Gartner Events. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., and has 4,000 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants, in more than 90 locations worldwide. Fiscal 2001 revenue totaled $963 million. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.
Investor Contact:
Julie K. Gottlieb
Vice President, Investor Relations
+1 203-316-3901
julie.gottlieb@gartner.com
 Media Contact:
Carol Wallace
Vice President, Public Relations
+1 203-316-3575
carol.wallace@gartner.com


This press release contains statements regarding the Company's business outlook, the development of the Company's services, the demand for the Company's products and services and all other statements in this release other than recitation of historical facts are forward-looking statements (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Such forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties; consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied thereby. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to: ability to expand or even retain the Company's customer base in light of the adverse current economic conditions, including the impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks; ability to grow or even sustain revenues from individual customers in light of the adverse impact of the current economic conditions on overall IT spending; the duration and severity of the current economic slowdown; ability to attract and retain professional staff of research analysts and consultants upon whom the Company is dependent; ability to achieve and effectively manage growth, particularly as the Company seeks to reduce its overall workforce; ability to achieve continued customer renewals and achieve new contract value, backlog and deferred revenue growth in light of competitive pressures; ability to integrate operations of possible acquisitions; ability to carry out the Company's strategic initiatives and manage associated costs; ability to manage the Company's strategic partnerships; rapid technological advances which may provide increased indirect competition to the Company from a variety of sources; substantial competition from existing competitors and potential new competitors; risks associated with intellectual property rights important to the Company's products and services; additional risks associated with international operations including foreign currency fluctuations; and other risks listed from time to time in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2001. These filings can be found on Gartner's website at www.gartner.com/investors and the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov. Forward-looking statements included herein speak only as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update such statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events or circumstances.