Corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings firms measure companies’ performance across a wide array of topics, such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, workforce diversity and executive compensation. Some of these vendors predominantly track companies’ ESG performance to inform and influence equity investors, creditors, bondholders and other participants in the capital markets. These vendors’ products often include a single corporate score to represent a company’s entire performance, simplifying interpretation for end users. This is intended to make it easy for investors to make a more informed decision on potential investments and for other stakeholders to understand how a company is performing relative to its ESG obligations, as well as its peers.
Corporate Governance Services are designed to help organizations establish and maintain effective governance frameworks through a range of professional support and advisory functions. These services focus on ensuring that companies are managed in a responsible, transparent, and compliant manner, aligning with legal standards and ethical practices. Key areas typically include board composition and performance, regulatory compliance, risk management, internal controls, and stakeholder communication. By implementing sound governance practices, organizations can enhance decision-making, build investor confidence, and promote long-term sustainability. These services are especially valuable in navigating complex regulatory environments and fostering a culture of accountability and integrity across all levels of the organization.
Gartner defines enterprise AI search as platforms that enable retrieval and synthesis of information across enterprise repositories. They are a key technology for developing AI assistants and AI agents that scale to enterprise needs using retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). They integrate with a wide range of advanced natural language processing (NLP), machine learning (ML) and large language model (LLM) technologies that are essential to knowledge management processes. They are designed to be customized and tuned for specific domains but often come with prepackaged integrations and experiences for some enterprise applications. Enterprise AI search tools are pivotal tools for humans and machines that need to find information and synthesize it to derive insight, so they can subsequently make decisions and take actions. These platforms connect to a wide variety of data sources, normalize and classify information, index it, and match and rank the most relevant results. Their user experiences are commonly customized and are increasingly used as a platform for building AI assistants for a wide variety of operational use cases. Those building RAG-based systems should consider how to configure enterprise search platforms to deliver AI assistants and, in the future, AI agents.
IT Security refers to products and services that protect digital systems and data from cyber threats and unauthorized access. This category includes markets that focus on network security, identity management, data protection, and cloud security, enabling organizations to reduce risk, ensure compliance, and operate securely in a digital world.
Gartner defines IT vendor risk management (IT VRM) as the discipline of addressing the residual risk that businesses and governments face when working with external service providers, IT vendors and related third parties. The scope typically addresses risks related to data protection, business continuity, security and other risk domains as relevant to laws, regulation and industry practices.
Investor Relations (IR) software is an essential tool for publicly traded companies, designed to streamline the management of communications and relationships with investors, analysts, and the financial community. By automating the dissemination of financial reports, regulatory filings, and corporate news, IR software enhances transparency and ensures compliance with financial regulations. It offers a suite of CRM features for efficient communication, including press release distribution, earnings call webcasting, and secure data sharing. Additionally, IR software provides analytics on investor engagement, helping companies to tailor their strategies and improve relations with the investment community. The benefits of using IR software include improved operational efficiency, enhanced regulatory compliance, increased investor engagement, and better strategic decision-making based on insights into investor behavior and market trends. Overall, IR software plays a crucial role in maintaining a transparent, compliant, and effective investor relations program, building trust and credibility with stakeholders.