Sharon Mertz

Sharon Mertz is an instructor at Harvard Extension School and Southern New Hampshire University, where she teaches strategic management and technology within multinational corporate environments. As a former research director in the software markets research team at Gartner, Inc., she published research directed towards business executives, investors, and product management within the global software market. She is an international business professional with more than 30 years of experience in strategic consulting and management, directed toward the introduction and impact of emerging technologies.

Before joining Gartner, Inc., Mertz was an associate partner at IBM, working with the global research organizations to evaluate emerging business opportunities. She held an international assignment based in Paris as practice leader for IBM’s strategic consulting organization in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Mertz also held management roles at KPMG, Hewlett Packard, Bull Worldwide Information Systems, and Digital Equipment. She is an accomplished keynote speaker and has addressed audiences at both commercial and academic conferences internationally, such as the Russian Open Source Summit, Academy of International Business Conference, International Conference on Complex Systems, and various investor events.

Mertz is a member of the Academy of International Business and the honor societies of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and completed graduate programs in computer science and business management at Worcester State University, George Washington University, and Harvard Extension School. She received a doctorate in international business with an emphasis on business strategy from Southern New Hampshire University. Her areas of research interest include technology adoption models and software market growth in emerging economies.