Business Intelligence Software 2014 Customer Ratings from a Gartner Magic Quadrant Survey

Each year, Gartner assesses the Business Intelligence (BI) and business analytics market with the ultimate goal of reporting research data for a matrix they call the Gartner Magic Quadrant. One aspect of their research includes performing extensive BI end-user surveys. Users being surveyed are made up of professional enterprise constituents such as business managers or IT folks who share their experiences while using business intelligence and analytics products and how it may or may not have contributed to the overall success of their businesses. The purpose for these studies is to provide understanding into BI platform issues and limitations and to estimate the future state of each business intelligence software tool.

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The Study:

The 2014 Gartner Magic Quadrant customer survey results used in this analysis included a total of 1,589 responses. The total survey responses were received from:

• Vendor-provided references — 1,470 (93%)
• BI users from Gartner BI Summits — 33 (2%)
• Respondents from last year’s survey — 86 (5%)

Business Intelligence Categories and Vendors:

• Cloud BI:  Birst, GoodData
• Data Discovery Leaders:  Tableau, Tibco Spotfire, Qlik
• Large Independents: Information Builders, MicroStrategy, SAS Institute
• Megavendors:  IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP
• Open Source:  Actuate (BIRT), Jaspersoft (acquired by Tibco Software), Pentaho
• Small Independents:  Alteryx, arcplan, Bitam, Board International, Infor, Logi Analytics, Panorama Software, Prognoz, Pyramid Analytics, Salient Management, Targit, Yellowfin
• Other Vendors:  Adaptive Insights, Advizor Solutions, Chartio, Dimensional Insight, Dundas Data Visualization, eQ Technologic, InetSoft, Jedox, Jinfonet Software (JReport), Lavastorm Analytics, Phocas Software, SiSense, Software AG (JackBe), SpagoBI, Strategy Companion

Summary of Results

A major key finding from the survey was that customer experience really matters. A vendor’s customer experience rating, measured by looking at a combination of factors such as product quality, customer support and sales experience has a strong correlation to how customers view a vendor’s future.

Megavendors continue to be judged as below average by all respondents on many factors of customer success – overall customer experience and functionality, ease of use, and most complex deployments with global systems record reporting.

Data discovery and many small independents tend to have much of the market growth momentum which corresponds directly to their above average scores in ease of use, complex types of analysis, and delivery of stronger business benefits.

The Megavendors minus Microsoft and large independent Microstrategies have among the highest enterprise standardization rates in the largest companies. Data discovery vendors are implemented in large firms, but are often add-ons that threaten the enterprise standard as they enhance their features and functions while expanding their wide spread use and acceptance.

To read more about the Gartner Magic Quadrant survey results, click here.