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- Tell us about your family.
- I live in Nashua, New Hampshire with my wife and our three children — Sarah who is 20, Joshua, age 17 and Ethan, five.
- What do you like most about your work?
- Most everything. I enjoy the variety of work that we engage in as analysts. I especially love the people I work with and being surrounding by a constant flow of intellectual energy.
- What are you most proud of professionally?
- I have always enjoyed the creation and invention process. At Gartner, and in prior organizations, I have always sought to create new (and better) ways of doing things: new businesses, processes, techniques, products, curriculums. I am very proud of the things that I have been able to create over the past 25 years.
- How did you become an IT analyst?
- I've served in many different roles over the past 24 years: IT, business user and technology vendor (field and corporate). This has given me a more balanced understanding of the demand and supply sides of the IT industry which has served me well as an analyst.
- When you were six years old, what did you want to grow up to be?
- An inventor. As a child I enjoyed disassembling things such as radios and clocks. It wasn't until much later that I learned to put them back together.
- If you could not be an analyst, what would be your second career choice?
- A teacher. Early in my career, I had the privilege to teach at the university level. I found it tremendously rewarding and would love to return to it someday (when I can afford to live on a teacher's salary).
- How has IT personally changed your life?
- I am an admitted "technology junkie" always on to the "next thing" as soon as it's available. It's hard to imagine how we managed to get along prior to laptop computers, the Internet, IM, email, WiFi, PDAs, etc. On a less positive note, technology also makes it possible to work 24/7, which was not possible in 1980.
- How do you spend your time when you're not working?
- With my wife, children and friends. And, when time allows, flying my Cessna 172.
- What is your ideal way to spend a free Sunday afternoon?
- Reading the Sunday papers with a hot cup of freshly brewed coffee.
- Do you have a favorite book or author?
- North Star Over My Shoulder by Robert Buck is one of my all-time favorites. I also enjoy historical novels from the likes of James Michener.
- Any favorite Websites?
- eBay, Google and WeatherTap
- What is your most prized personal possession?
- Old family photographs.
- Do you have a philosophy by which you live, something that guides you in tough times?
- Life is lived in chapters. Some are better than others.
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Howard is a worldwide authority on business intelligence — the process for exploring and analyzing structured, domain-specific information to discern business trends or patterns thereby deriving insights and drawing conclusions. Domains include customers, suppliers, products, services and competitors.
Topics He Covers Include:
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Business Intelligence |
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BI Strategies |
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BI Competency Centers |
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BI Architecture |
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BI Methodologies |
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Enterprise BI Suites |
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Business Intelligence Platforms |
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Business Intelligence Markets |
Correct Predictions:
| The emergence of a hypertext-based user paradigm for navigating compound information objects (i.e. portals) — 1994. |
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| The emergence of a standard multi-dimensional query language — 1995. |
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| Microsoft's entry into the BI market and its subsequent dominance of certain segments — 1995. |
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| The shift towards packaged BI applications — 1996. |
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| The recession-proof nature of the BI industry. |
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During his tenure at Gartner, Howard has taken the Business Intelligence (BI) space from an esoteric "backwater" to a mainstream and highly valued research area.
Howard has driven the definition and direction of the Business Intelligence research agenda at Gartner, since 1993.
Howard established the Business Intelligence Research Community in 2000 and continues to serve as its chair. It is among the most active communities within Gartner, boasting participation from three continents, and multiple Gartner segments and businesses.
In 2005, Howard initiated and now chairs the "analytics" Research Community, to reflect the changing dynamics of BI.
Howard served as the Business Intelligence Research Area Leader until mid-2004.
In 2003, Howard established the North American BI conference and continues to serve as its conference chair. Gartner's 2005 BI event grew by 300% (over 2003) and is considered The industry-defining event for BI.
Howard moderated Gartner's Analyst Keynote at all four worldwide Symposia in the Fall of 2004.
Howard created the BI/DW Spotlight and Focus Area, running it as Editor and Chief for two years, from 2001 until 2003.
Successfully initiating the Applications Integration and Applications Development Spotlight, Howard ran it for six months in 2001 before transitioning it to David McCoy.
Helping to define Business Activity Monitoring (BAM), Howard drove a massive, cross-research effort in 2002, which culminated in a Special Report on BAM.
Howard chaired the Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) Research Community from 2001 - 2003.
Early in 2005, Howard concluded his third successful multi-client, primary research study, covering BI, DW, BAM, and information-based applications.
In 2002, Howard was selected as a Gartner "Cultural Icon."
In 2001, Howard was a Winner's Circle participant.
In 2000, Howard inaugurated the Business Intelligence conference in Europe, and served as its first conference chair. This landmark conference just completed its fifth successful year.
Howard's research served as prototype/proof of concept for Spotlights in 2000.
In 1995 and 1996, Howard was selected as "Analyst of the Year."
For the past 12 years, Howard has actively and successfully mentored other Gartner analysts. |
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Howard's current research is aimed at "analytics", which explores the myriad of ways that Business Intelligence can be employed by businesses.
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