Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence Platforms
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Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence Platforms Gartner RAS Core Research Note G00173700, Joseph Feiman, Neil MacDonald, 29 January 2010, RA1 04012010 In 2009, megavendors held almost two-thirds of business intelligence platform market share. But impatient business users increasingly turned to pure-play BI platforms, particularly those of small innovative vendors, to fill usability and time-to-value needs unmet by the larger vendors. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW This document presents a global view of Gartner’s opinion of the main software vendors that should be considered by organizations seeking to develop business intelligence (BI) applications. Buyers should evaluate vendors in all four quadrants and not assume that only highly rated organizations can deliver successful BI implementations. Year-to-year comparisons of vendor positions are not particularly useful given market dynamics (such as emerging competitors, new product road maps, new buying centers) and client concerns/ inquiries have changed since our last Magic Quadrant. Therefore, we have evaluated vendors based on these new market dynamics and have reflected the changes in our Magic Quadrant criteria evaluation weights for 2010. For further guidance on the Magic Quadrant evaluation process and on how to use a Magic Quadrant, see “Magic Quadrants and MarketScopes: How Gartner Evaluates Vendors Within a Market.” MAGIC QUADRANT Market Overview The market in 2009 was defined by the David and Goliathian struggle that occurred between resilient BI pure-play vendors and ostensibly omnipotent megavendors. The frenzy caused by major BI platform market consolidation in 2007 and 2008 gave way to a postacquisition hangover in 2009 in which megavendors’ customers reported greater overall dissatisfaction due, in large part, to the often messy postacquisition “digestion” process. Yet, despite megavendor acquisition “growing pains,” stack-centric buying led by applications and information infrastructure dominated BI platform investment decisions in 2009 with the top five vendors controlling 75% of the market. At the same time, however, based on the research conducted for this report and interactions with Gartner customers over the year, there is significant, if not euphoric, satisfaction with, and accelerated interest in, pure-play BI platforms. This is particularly true for smaller, innovative vendors filling needs left unmet by the larger vendors. To understand this paradox, it is necessary to consider a number of factors that are driving the BI platform buying decision today:
Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence Platforms
