James Govern posses an interesting question I have often wondered “By nature or nurture, architects fall into two camps regarding their general attitude towards abstractions: Believers and Non-Believers.”
Well James, I see your point but I don’t believe that I fall into either of those camps. I treat abstractions as a means to an end and try and keep them in context. The thing with percentages is that your organization may fit into the smaller side of the percentage divide and not in with the mainstream, i.e. “Most companies that have adopted X have benefited” you know the typical analysis company slogan.
Being a good architect means that you must be objective and use Gartner et al only to your benefit quoting them only when it’s beneficial to PR/sell your cause but it is important to understand how an answer was achieved.
For example, it’s rubbish to say that 90% of women say a brand of wrinkle reduction cream works when only 53 people are involved in the survey but however if 53,000 people were involved that would be a different story!
As an Architect I think it’s important to keep an open-mind and choose your weapons carefully.
Anyway, Gartner is a commercial company that’s main money spinner is credible output. So if you don’t like something, challenge them! I’m surprised why more people don’t.