Erik Keller has been a participant in the information technology industry for over 25 years in a variety of roles and formed Wapiti LLC in January 1999. As principal of Wapiti, he has provided strategic consulting services for dozens of companies seeking advice on enterprise-software business models and technologies. Erik currently consults with venture-capital firms, works with a variety of enterprise software companies on both a project and retainer basis, and key buyers of technology products. In the past he has authored columns for Manufacturing Systems, Managing Automation and other trade magazines. He is currently a columnist for MBT Magazine and is a contributor to a variety of publications and blogs. In the spring of 2004 his book, Technology Paradise Lost, which predicts the future of IT spending in corporations was published.
Erik is currently a Research Fellow at Saugatuck Technology. He is also on the Board of Advisors for Questra.
Before forming Wapiti, Erik was a Research Fellow, Director of Research and Vice President with Gartner Inc. While with Gartner, he managed the enterprise software group, which had over 45 analysts in the areas of front-office, back-office and e-commerce software. With Gartner for more than a decade, Erik has worked with over 1,000 companies worldwide (including many of the Fortune 100) to advise them how to deploy and develop information technology strategies with an emphasis in the manufacturing sector.
As a senior analyst at Gartner, Erik authored many pieces of research that accurately predicted industry trends and events well in advance of their occurrence. For instance, he was the primary analyst that defined ERP (enterprise resource planning) years before it was recognized by the market as one of the big IT trends of the 1990s.
During his last few years at Gartner, Erik was also responsible for research content and management of Gartner Group’s Symposium event.
Prior to Gartner Group, Erik worked for a variety of industry trade publications including Manufacturing Week, VAR Business, Computer Systems News and Electronics Magazine. He is a widely quoted industry figure and has spoken at a wide variety of industry events over the last 20 years. Erik graduated from SUNY at Stony Brook with a BE in Engineering Science. He lives in Ridgefield, CT.
(Photo: Gabe Palacio)
