Magic Quadrant Magic

Gartner's Magic Quadrant is a brilliantly simple vendor assessment visualization of markets, trends, and strategies - in one image! You can usually find a free look at these with a Google search of images.

The above image depicts the negative feelings that the judging is tainted by Gartner's "pay to play" clients.See HERE how Tech Buddha looks at how a recent lawsuit against Gartner prompts support and criticism (mostly support). This excerpt of "What the MQ doesn’t provide" puts the depth of evaluation in perspective:
  • Gartner does not maintain a testing facility, nor works with one. The MQ does not provide an evaluation of technology based on an internal evaluation or competitive analysis. In some cases the only interaction an analysts has had with a product is a 30-60 minute web demo
The MQ is a marketing tool for Gartner and the vendors on the list. It is not expected to be either complete or definitive. Use it to help your conversation for vendor selection and competitive analysis. Below is what the quadrants really mean:
Below is an example of an important category for "Web Hosting and Hosted Cloud System Infrastructure Services" - For you deep techies, see more on this assessment HERE
Here and below is a clever parody from Tom Wailgum about Forrester's own version - the Forrester Wave:

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