Gartner is one of the loudest voices in enterprise technology— they’re world’s largest information technology research and advisory company, and generally, the first source consulted when it comes to evaluating enterprise IT solutions, and enterprise Identity Management is no exception.
But while the Gartner’s flagship Magic Quadrant report for SIEM is a great resource for finding out who the top contenders are, it doesn’t give a particularly in-depth analysis behind what each solution offers or how they perform across different industries and use cases. Nor do Magic Quadrants typically don’t include a very broad spectrum of solutions.
Gartner’s yearly reports don’t exactly move at the speed of business, and you can’t base an entire RFP off of one resource (though I’m sure some do). A well-informed decision requires a well-rounded research process.
IT workers, CIOs, and CISOs need to conduct extensive research to correctly plan, assess, and deploy the right solution for their organization.
That means multiple sources—and lots of work. Luckily, we’ve done some of the work for you. Below, you’ll find the top five alternatives to Gartner’s Magic Quadrant reports.
Since each organization needs a tool to match up with their own specific use cases, these resources allow researchers to sift through solutions that satisfy a wide range of SIEM requirements.
But should you feel the need for even more resources, check out our SIEM resource library, which features 12 top resources, and is constantly updated with the latest and greatest InfoSec best practices.
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Forrester Wave Report & Vendor Landscape Reports
Forrester offers a wide variety of resources to assist business leaders in selecting the right enterprise technology solutions. As one of the most well-established technology research outlets, Forrester is a trusted source of information, offering expansive market studies that encompass a multitude of charts, graphics, and figures. Forrester’s flagship methodology lies in the company’s ever-evolving quarterly Wave reports as well as their in-depth vendor landscape reports. Forrester currently offers Wave and Vendor Landscape reports for Security Analytics.
View Resource: Forrester Wave Report for Security Analytics
KuppingerCole
KuppingerCole is an international analyst firm that specializes in offering thought leadership in areas including SIEM and Real Time Security Monitoring and Intelligence. In their free Analyst View on Real Time Security Monitoring and Intelligence, KuppingerCole’s analysts give an in-depth analysis of a variety of information security tools including SIEM and big data analytics. Likewise, this blog on building a ‘future proof’ security operations center is great fodder for understanding what makes an efficient SOC.
View Resource: Analyst View: Real Time Security Monitoring and Intelligence
Gartner Critical Capabilities Reports
In addition to their Magic Quadrant reports, Gartner also offers the less well-known Critical Capabilities reports, which allow the reader to compare vendors based on specific use cases which relate to their own environments.
For example, in the 2016 version of their Critical Capabilities report for SIEM, Gartner takes the 13 vendors that it considers most significant in the SIEM market and evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of those vendors against ‘critical capabilities’ and use cases for SIEM. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product, or service depicted in its research publications.
Gartner defines Critical capabilities as “attributes that differentiate products/services in a class in terms of their quality and performance.”
Gartner rates each vendor’s product or service on a five-point scale in terms of how well it delivers each capability.
Gartner Peer Insights
Gartner Peer Insights is Gartner’s answer to the crowdsourced review site—a crowdsourced review site of their own. With their Peer Insights program, Gartner is trying to present the collective experiences of thousands of qualified (and verified) tech buyers and end users who have already gone where you are headed. Perhaps most importantly, Gartner’s Peer Insights democratizes the evaluation process, allowing for vendors not typically included in Magic Quadrants and Critical Capabilities reports due to their stringent requirements. Gartner’s Peer Insights on Identity Governance and Administration features 113 reviews on 19 vendors—far more than considered in the Magic Quadrant and Critical capabilities reports.
Solutions Review Buyer’s Guide
Solutions Review’s SIEM and Security Analytics Buyer’s Guide is the perfect primer for selecting the right SIEM solution. The 30-page document includes a category overview, 5 questions to ask potential SIEM providers, 5 questions to ask yourself before buying, plus a capabilities reference and complete profiles of the top 24 SIEM solution providers, making it easy for companies considering SIEM implementations to compare and contrast solutions and find their best fit. By using the SIEM Buyer’s Guide in conjunction with other tools on this list, solutions-seekers will be armed with all of the materials they need to ensure selection of the best software for their company.
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Jeff Edwards
Jeff Edwards is an enterprise technology writer and analyst covering Identity Management, SIEM, Endpoint Protection, and Cybersecurity writ large. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and previously worked as a reporter covering Boston City Hall.
- Five Questions You Need To Ask Yourself When Evaluating SIEM Solutions - November 8, 2017
- Winning the Data Breach War with User and Entity Behavioral Analytics - November 3, 2017
- CyberSec Management Co. Skybox Secures $150M Funding Round - October 27, 2017
