English writer Arthur C. Clarke said that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Whether or not this statement is entirely accurate, it is certainly not far off the mark when it comes to one of the most eagerly awaited milestones in the business world each year: the "predictions" of Gartner's Magic Quadrant, which the consulting and research firm has been offering in multiple technology sectors since 2008. In other words, it is an examination of dozens of software providers for all types of solutions with the aim of determining their position in the market.
Analytics tools, management suites, customer relationship systems, and e-commerce platforms are just a few examples of the dozens of sectors reviewed by the "magic quadrant" to place them on their particular coordinate axes, from which the main players operating in the market are derived: leaders, visionaries, niche players, and challengers. One of the industries whose review generates the most impact is that of analytics and business intelligence software. We are dedicating today's post to its recent publication, with the aim of learning as much as possible about the "state of the art" in this field.
As in 2019, Microsoft and Tableau remain the two dominant tools on the market. Both score highest in terms of both executability and vision completeness, the latter referring to a vendor's ability to understand its customers' needs and translate those needs into products and services. If a vendor is determined to have a high degree of vision, it means that it listens to and understands its customers' wants and needs, which it can then shape or enhance with its vision.
Of the two providers, Microsoft remains in first place, although it has lost some ground in terms of "completeness of vision" compared to last year. This shift has been reflected across the board among theplayers closest to the "visionaries" category: Salesforce, Qlik, ThoughtSpot, and especially Sisense have fallen back in this category toward more centered positions, although they continue to occupy the top positions on the vision scale.
For their part, two well-known companies, SAS and SAP, remain in the middle of the table, although many competing technologies have joined them at the same level, such as the aforementioned Sisense, the rising Yellowfin, and the veteran Oracle, which has seen its capabilities in both areas revised upwards over the last year. Tibco Software, which last year competed closely with SAS and SAP, has jumped in 2020 to a position of greater execution but less vision, moving it from the "visionaries" field to the "challengers" field, where it competes head-to-head with MicroStrategy. In the same quadrant, the third competitor would be Looker, which has made a leap from the niche player position it occupied last year.
To fully understand what it means to be in one of these quadrants, we can refer to Gartner's own definitions, which, except in the case of "leaders," are not exactly flattering:
- Leaders perform well within the framework of their current vision and are also well positioned for tomorrow.
- Visionaries understand where the market is headed, or have a vision for changing the rules of the market, but they are not yet executing well.
- Niche players either successfully focus on a small segment, or they are unfocused and are neither leaders in innovation nor outperform others.
- Challengers may enjoy strong performance today or dominate a large segment, but they do not demonstrate an understanding of the direction of the market.
Gartner's rating tool is not without its critics, as some claim that it is aimed more at investors and vendors than at the actual buyers of the providers. Questions have also been raised about possible conflicts of interest, and it is believed that open source providers are not given sufficient consideration.
In any case, Gartner's Magic Quadrants are considered a roadmap that allows multiple industries to have a reference point for technology market trends. In this sense, they provide quick information about competitive technology providers in a market, as well as their ability to meet the needs of end users today and in the future. They also provide insight into how technology providers in a market are positioned competitively and highlight the strategies they use to compete for end-user business. This allows any company to compare the strengths and challenges of a technology provider and choose one based on its specific needs.
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