Normally the gradient is way steeper than the requirement. The headache comes at the acceleration height. It is weird that after many years flying "normally" now I have to use V/S mode a lot during that phase, instead of just letting the usual modes do their work. I don't think it is necessary unless you are truly limited.
The all engine climb gradients are valid for specific take off configurations and speeds at different elevations and ISA devs, all of which factors change during the climb (configuration, speed, and specially elevation) so what is the use of them? I always thought that if the gradient required in the SID was less that that of the table (for actual temperature and field elev) then you were ok to climb without worriying about that at all.