Stay for the training and credibility, leave for [much] better pay elsewhere
Pros
The privilege of working for an industry-defining company in its field. Your customers always want to talk to you and are always listening to what you have to say. Great exposure to IT Executive leaders from the largest companies in the world. You learn a lot about IT and the industry from a perspective like no other. Starting to move away from meaningless metrics to simpler OKRs such as retention and satisfaction/value. If you have a good idea, and you can prove its worth, you can turn that idea into a project or initiative with support from peers, management and even clients. PTO is very good, though not as good as others (fixed policy, not flexible). Starting at 20 days, stretching to 35 days after 7 years of service. There is also little problem with taking that vacation, but there is a caveat in the cons below. Your mileage may vary, but I've had great managers in the past who have been supportive in career development. Others are sometimes less fortunate. There is a caveat in the cons below. If you're early on in your career, my advice would be to give Gartner real thought as your next step. If you're already working there and have been for a couple of years, you undoubtedly are worth a lot more than you are being paid!
Cons
As their center of excellence for customer success is [historically] in Southwest Florida, it attracts and breeds a certain individual that could make it a toxic environment to be in for some. Avoiding politics becomes very difficult. The remote environment is a blessing for this reason. People are leaving for much better pay. This makes others want to leave, and for those who stay, they take on more work with no additional recognition or reward. Career paths become less defined in the Client Success Organization as you move through the ranks. Management has tried to create a career roadmap but it's relatively unproven. The Client Success role has also become saturated and less specialized in a very short period of time, leaving more tenured CSMs wondering how to succeed further without moving to another company. It's easy to take PTO, but your work will stack up when you return. The workload for most CSMs is uncomfortably high because of the level of expectations management has in the quality of your interactions you have with your clients, combined with the absence of any streamlined tool(s) to do your work and uncomfortably large client territories. Feels very "East Coast". There is rarely any 'excitement' at Gartner. The product can be deemed very expensive if you can't prove the value. Strong account management and service delivery can mitigate any doubt on renewals but sometimes Gartner's research and advisory can come across as 'smoke and mirrors'. Smaller, more nimble competitors are offering a cheaper and more compelling product in certain markets. Gartner is not moving fast enough with innovation or disruption.
