Bringing some light to Gartner’s Magic Quadrant
Vendor list leads to flurry of PR activity
Gartner has draped its idea of the Magic Quadrant in secrecy.
In press releases it is described as follows : “The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner’s analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the “Leaders” quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
So in short, Gartner is producing a a premier league of vendors.
As one has to buy the report, we probably wouldn’t hear anything more about it, except that the companies that are recognized as leaders in one of Gartner’s Magic Quadrants are extremely keen for everyone to know about it.
Neolane for example, has been recognized for CRM multichannel campaign management, and Portrait for CRM customer service contact centres
Portrait Software, a provider of customer interaction optimization software, has been deemed a leader both in CRM Multichannel Campaign Management and for CRM Customer Service Contact Centers.
A proud Luke McKeever, CEO of Portrait said: “We believe our inclusion in Gartner’s two Magic Quadrants speaks to Portrait’s success in driving analytically based inbound and outbound customer interactions across all channels through its advanced Customer Interaction Suite Suite,” stated Luke McKeever, CEO, Portrait.
Multichannel
Companies recognized in the Magic Quadrant for CRM Multichannel Campaign Management were evaluated on the completeness of their vision and ability to execute, says Gartner.
“Successful multichannel integration is critical for companies hoping to create tailored, meaningful dialogues and long term, profitable relationships with their customers,” says McKeever. “With the plethora of channel options today, marketers must integrate multichannel messages to ensure consistent and engaging customer conversations take place, no matter which channel customers may use. We believe Portrait’s recognition in this Magic Quadrant further acknowledges our work in this important area.”
Neolane, based both in Twickenham, UK and Massachussetts, USA, was also deemed a player in the 2010 “Magic Quadrant for CRM Multichannel Campaign Management” as Neolane’s marketing automation platform is recognised by global organisations for powering personalised, relevant and measurable cross-channel marketing and lead management campaigns that create new revenue streams and improve customers’ overall brand experience.
A statement from the company said: “Marketers requiring greater performance and scalability from their technology investments depend on Neolane’s flexible deployment models, including its SaaS and Mid-sourcing options, to improve results and ensure more measurable returns on their marketing investment (ROMI) across inbound and outbound channels.
Campaign execution
According to Gartner, this year “vendors are providing more advanced multichannel campaign execution, and marketers continue to build on inbound and outbound strategies for targeted, improved response and conversion rates. During the past year, we saw a continuation of a hot lead management area, and much time and attention given to SaaS as the delivery option that was a “must see” in almost every RFP from clients.”
“Our B2C and B2B customers are acutely aware of the business need to shift from a mass-marketing approach, to one that is more personalised, targeted and relevant across channels,” said Stephane Dehoche, president, Neolane. “For us, helping marketers create this ‘single voice’ – a collaborative strategy that consistently presents a single face, a single brand to their customers – is where Neolane excels. Unlike other vendors that are struggling to scale-up to support cross-channel strategies for global organisations, this is a core strength for Neolane, and is regularly recognised by our customers and prospects as an important differentiator.”
Other companies of the 23 evaluated making the grade are:
Responsys which helps make full use of new generation marketing tools to reach out to customers.
Responsys has earned recognition for providing on-demand marketing solutions to the businesses to effectively utilize the power of email, web, print, mobile, and social media channels for expanding and retaining customers.
ATG, whose chief marketing officer Nina McIntyre said: “We believe our positioning in the Leaders Quadrant is confirmation of our unwavering focus on providing our customers with the most visionary, state-of-the-art e-commerce technology and services possible. We feel this is clear recognition of ATG’s position as a provider of the industry’s most advanced commerce applications, and affirms ATG’s commitment to ongoing product innovation.”
Canadian Venda, which was noted for its ability to strongly execute on eCommerce initiatives on behalf of its clients. In particular, Gartner called out Venda’s attractive pricing model: “Venda’s pricing model changed the way organizations viewed funding of e-commerce projects, because it was different than existing, per-transaction or revenue share models.” Venda delivers on-demand eCommerce solutions to some of the world’s leading retailers and manufacturers. A complete Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform, Venda combines flexibility, reliability and scalability with the operating advantages of an outsourced service to deliver unprecedented return on investment.
Novell which was positioned by Gartner as leaders for Security Information and Event Management (SIEM).
According to the report, “The SIEM market is defined by the customer’s need to analyze security event data in real time for internal and external threat management, and to collect, store, analyze and report on log data for regulatory compliance and forensics.” ”Security continues to be a key pain point for today’s enterprises,” said Jim Ebzery, senior vice president and general manager for the Security, Management and Operating Platforms. “Automating the process of monitoring, identifying and responding to policy violations is critical in achieving enterprise-wide security, particularly for those with complex IT environments. We are honored to be recognized as a Leader in this year’s Gartner Security Information and Event Management Magic Quadrant. We look forward to continuing to partner with our customers to help them achieve success in their security and compliance initiatives.”