Gartner recently released the Magic Quadrant for Cloud Management Platforms. Gartner describes CMPs (cloud management platforms) as software tools that manage and operate multi-cloud networks (both public and private clouds). According to Gartner, the yardstick for measuring CMPs is how they provide lifecycle management, governance, automation, and brokering for managed cloud resources across seven functional areas.
The 2019 Gartner cloud management platform vendor landscape report reviewed several CMPs. They included CloudBolt, Embotics, HyperGrid, Morpheus Data, Scalr, Micro Focus, Flexera’s RightScale, VMware, and ServiceNow. The quadrant Gartner came up with breaks down these CMPs into four basic categories: Leaders, Visionaries, Challengers, and Niche Players. The CMPs appear on the quadrant based on their execution, strengths, weaknesses, and completeness of their visions.
What is Gartner’s Magic Quadrant?
The Gartner Magic Quadrant is a market research publication produced by Gartner Inc. The report uses an evaluation matrix to analyze the position of technology companies. The report rates technology vendors based on predefined criteria that are hinged on their strengths and weaknesses. Technology buyers can use the Magic Quadrant to assess vendors before buying a technology service, product, or solution.
How Does the Gartner Magic Quadrant Work?
The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of the competitive standing of four types of CMP providers with distinct differentiation. It focuses on the vision completeness of the vendor, as well as its ability to execute.
- Leaders
Leaders have excellent execution against their visions and are well-positioned for the future. Generally, these are well-established businesses with a large customer base and a strong market position.
- Visionaries
Visionaries have a good grasp of where the market is going or have an aspiration to change the rules of the market. However, they cannot execute well. They’re usually smaller companies with a reasonable vision.
- Challengers
Challengers are great at execution and may dominate a large segment of the market. However, they don’t have a firm grasp of the market’s direction. They’re almost at par with leaders. But their vision has not yet crystallized. They have the potential to transform into leaders.
- Niche Players
Niche Players are those providers that are successful in a small segment of the market. Alternatively, they have no focus and do not try to outperform or out-innovate the competition. They’re usually startups and lack both vision and execution.
How Do I Use Gartner’s 2019 Magic Quadrant for Cloud Management Platforms?
Use the 2019 Magic Quadrant to understand cloud management providers you might be considering for your enterprise cloud.
Remember that focusing on the Leaders quadrant is not always the right thing to do. There are compelling reasons to consider players in the Challengers quadrant as well. A niche player may also come into contention if it supports your needs better than players in other quadrants. The most important thing is to pick a provider that meets your business goals.
How does the Magic Quadrant for CMPs Help You?
- You get an overview of the CMP market providers and their ability to deliver on what your enterprise needs today and in the future.
- You understand how the competitive positioning of CMP providers and the strategies they use to stay relevant in the market.
- You get an opportunity to compare CMP providers’ challenges and strengths against your organization’s needs.
How Does Gartner Evaluate CMPs?
Because this is Gartner’s first report, we can expect it to evolve. But, for this report, Gartner chose CMPs based on their ability to deliver CMP functions. It also looked at data, such as the number of customers and revenue. It’s also a requirement that CMPs support private cloud deployments, AWS, and Microsoft Azure.
In the report, Gartner also touched on CMPs that didn’t make it on the list but are worth a second look. Gartner disqualified them because they didn’t meet the revenue or customer requirements. Depending on how these CMP providers deal with these two issues, they’re prime candidates for next year’s Magic Quadrant report.
Gartner expects the number of companies offering CMPs will double by 2021 on the back of the rising demand for multi-cloud deployments. There’s no guarantee that the CMPs appearing in the 2019 Quadrant will make a comeback in 2020. However, there are likely to be more players on the list in 2020.
CloudBolt Appears in Gartner’s 2019 Magic Quadrant
CloudBolt appears in the 2019 Gartner Magic Quadrant for CMPs under the Challengers category for its provisioning and orchestration handling.
Some of the strengths highlighted in the report include:
- CloudBolt leverages on its extensible architecture to deal with brownfield environments better than other players in the market.
- Customers love the focus and nimbleness of the CloudBolt solution.
- CloudBolt is mature and stable. It has evolved with time as the provider has worked with large, complex environments.
Conclusion
The Gartner cloud management platform vendor landscape in the report allows you to make the right decision when picking a CMP provider for your organization.