How does a Gartner Hype Cycle™ work?
A Gartner Hype Cycle provides an objective map that helps you understand the real risks and opportunities of innovation, so you can avoid adopting something too early, giving up too soon, adopting too late, or hanging on too long. Every Hype Cycle includes five phases:
The innovation trigger starts when an event, like a technological breakthrough or a product launch, gets people talking.
The peak of inflated expectations is when product usage increases, but there’s still more hype than proof that the innovation can deliver what you need.
The trough of disillusionment happens when the original excitement wears off and early adopters report performance issues and low ROI.
The slope of enlightenment occurs when early adopters see initial benefits and others start to understand how to adapt the innovation to their organizations.
The plateau of productivity marks the point at which more users see real-world benefits and the innovation goes mainstream.
