Cloud, e-research, 'hype cycles': Gartner, now free for UC Davis users, can help you research IT

If you're looking for data, trends or analysis on subjects that involve technology, you now have free access to one of the best IT research libraries around: Gartner.

As a benefit of the contract relationship between Gartner and the campus and Health System IT departments, all UC Davis faculty, students and staff have gained access at no charge to Gartner Campus Access via a UC Davis portal.

Gartner is a leading research and advisory firm. Via the portal, you can read or view Gartner research, white papers, webinars, and more, on an array of complex IT issues, emerging technologies, and industry trends.

A March 2016 paper, for example, digs into how the analytics landscape is changing in higher education. A summary of top 10 business trends affecting universities in 2016 includes segments on "increasing political intervention," "reinventing credits" and "e-research."

Gartner also tracks significant tech trends through what it calls the "hype cycle," representing the maturity, adoption and use of specific technologies. Recent topics range from cloud security and privacy to mobile apps and protecting infrastructure.

Faculty can use the Gartner site to help "bring real-world complex [IT] issues into the classroom," suggests the UC Davis IT Service Catalog. Staff can mine Gartner for ideas on how to "improve infrastructure, validate technology decisions, analyze trends in the industry, and understand best practices." Students might wish to get Gartner's global perspective on IT, or read about trends in technology, IT management, business issues, organizations, and strategy.

The access extends content previously available to UC Davis technologists through Gartner for Technical Professionals (GTP). If you're a technologist, you should continue to access Gartner through gartner.com, using the username and password you have already created. That approach will get you access to the GTP resources (such as peer conversations and discussions with Gartner analysts) as well as to the rest of the materials.