Magic Quadrants. An excellent tool for selecting ICT vendors, which almost nobody in the Czech Republic is aware of
Only the best global ICT companies manage to be included among them. Clients in the USA couldn’t even imagine choosing an information and communication services vendor without them. In spite of this, Gartner’s Magic Quadrants are not very well-known. Meanwhile, they are a great helper for all companies in search of ICT service vendors.
What are Magic Quadrants from Gartner?
To put it simply, the Magic Quadrant is a list of the best technology companies from around the world. Before being approved for entry into a quadrant, all companies are subjected to a detailed analysis, which is then published and potential clients can vet a vendor before initiating cooperation with them.
The companies are tested and selected for a magic quadrant by the company Gartner, which is involved in research and consulting in the area of ICT. The company, established in 1979, works for more than 15,600 clients from 100 countries and has a very strong reputation in its field.
On account of the fact that the field of information and communication technology is extremely broad, Gartner created around 170 Magic Quadrants, divided according to branch. There is a Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence platforms, a quadrant for data integration tools and a quadrant for enterprise mobility management.
Becoming one of those in the Magic Quadrant and having an analysis published from Gartner is the dream of most ICT companies. For example, when a company in the USA is searching for a new vendor of services from this field, they turn to the Magic Quadrant right away. This helps to both narrow the field and to ensure that they will only be choosing from the top companies in the field.
Why is the Magic Quadrant so prestigious?
There are thousands of companies operating in each ICT market, but only a couple dozen of them are chosen to be among those in the Magic Quadrant. On top of that, a spot in the quadrant is not a life time appointment, as Gartner tests companies every year and those who don’t meet the requirements are removed. If a company wants to keep their spot in the quadrant for the long term, they have to constantly fulfil the strict criteria.
At the same time, Gartner evaluates and selects companies based on two main criteria:
- Completeness of Vision, where, for example, market understanding, marketing strategy or business model are assessed.
- Ability to Execute, where, for example, financial health, ability to react to changes or customer experience are assessed.
On the basis of the resulting analysis, Gartner then places the company into one of four groups in the given segment – Challenger, Leader, Specialist or Visionary.
| Challenger
A very capable player offering products or services which are a threat to the market leader. |
Leader
Offers top products or services, has a large market share, is trustworthy and can promote new technologies. |
| Specialist
A company that excels in its (small) field, but is still working on its competitiveness and greater vision. |
Visionary
A highly innovative company which comes up with novel solutions to customer problems. However, it does not a hold a very significant market share. |
How do Czech companies match up?
From time to time, Czech or Slovak companies also find their way into a Magic Quadrant from Gartner. An example is ESET, which in 2018 placed in the Endpoint Protection segment. In 2016, two years earlier, the Brno company Flowmon Networks fought its way into the quadrant in the Monitoring and Network Diagnostics segment.
GEMA – a global alliance of companies engaged in corporate mobility – thus Enterprise Mobility Management, has also entered a Magic Quadrant several times. It was all the more difficult for GEMA because the strict parameters for entering the quadrant had to be filled by every member of this alliance. Including by us, the company System4u.
When the analysts from Gartner tested us, they asked, for example, who we were, what we are engaged in, what kind of customer problems we deal with, or how we differ from the competition. The analysts went into a lot of depth, did several video calls with us, asked about the knowledge of our technicians and asked for contact information to some of our customers to get feedback from them as well.
We are really glad that we succeeded and got into the Magic Quadrant with GEMA, which also entails a huge commitment. However, this is mainly a signal for you – our customers – that you are dealing with a partner who is one of the world’s top vendors in its field.
The document on the location of GEMA in the Gartner quadrant can be downloaded at web sites.