There are many studies that show a comparison between the different data analysis and business intelligence tools on the market. But the best known and most prestigious one is the "
Gartner Magic Quadrant".
This 2020 study has just been published and again, like the last twelve years,
Microsoft Power BI is a leader unquestionable. Let's take a look at what this study consists of and how it evaluates different BI technologies and vendors.
What is the Gartner Magic Quadrant?
Gartner Inc. is one of the world's most prestigious technology consultancies, which produces various reports analysing IT suppliers and technologies. The Gartner Group carries out studies that are an international reference, for more than 200 IT products and services. To show the results of its studies and analyses it uses the so-called "Magic Quadrants".
Gartner Magic Quadrant is the publication of an annual survey on IT technologies. It helps companies that want to purchase IT products or services to make the best decisions, as it provides a global view of each product area. There are Gartner studies on all types of IT technologies and products/services: All types of software, ERPs, CRMs, Cloud Services, Analytics, BI...
The studies are based on three sources of information:
- Customer surveys on products/services.
- Information sent to them by technology providers.
- Direct analysis and evaluation by Gartner analysts.
The results of these studies are shown in a quadrant, divided by two axes:
- The X Axis which indicates "completeness of vision", and ranks the ability of IT providers to take advantage of the current market momentum to generate value for themselves and their customers.
- The Y-axis indicates the "ability or capacity to execute" and ranks the ability of suppliers to successfully execute their market vision.
These two axes divide the graph into four quadrants or classification zones, where the analysed suppliers are located:
- Leaders: They are the most competitive companies, which lead the market, because they have excellent products and a great capacity to adapt to a changing market. They are usually the ones with the largest market share and the greatest expectations for the future.
- Challengers: They are companies with good products, dominating a large segment of the market, but they focus on a particular aspect of demand and do not offer as many solutions and market vision as the leaders.
- Niche Playersare companies that are successful in a niche market, but do not stand out for their innovation and do not have a global vision of the market.
- Visionaries: They are innovative companies that are able to predict market needs, but do not have the resources or the capacity to provide the solutions. This is the case, for example, with start-ups.
The Gartner Magic Quadrant is a competitiveness matrix, which summarises the analysis and is accompanied by a report detailing the study.
Microsoft is a Leader in Gartner's 2020 Magic Quadrant for BI and Analytics Platforms
For the 13th consecutive year, Microsoft has been named a leader in business intelligence and analytics (BI) platforms.according to Gartner's Magic Quadrant.
These are the strengths that have made Microsoft Power BI a leader, according to the Gartner report:
- Competitive pricing with sales expertise. Customers chose Microsoft Power BI for its expertise, power and affordability. One of the advantages of Power BI is that it has a free desktop version, Power BI Desktop, which allows customers to test the tool.
- Simplicity of use despite the ability to make very complex analyses. Power BI's ease of use is another of the advantages highlighted by its customers. In addition, the tool supports complex data models and performs advanced analysis in a simple and intuitive way.
- Product overview: Microsoft invests a lot of resources every year in innovating and improving Power BI. Most notably, improvements in augmented analytics and new AutoML features, available in Azure Machine Learning.
The other vendors listed in the 2020 Business Intellgence and Analytics Platforms Leaders quadrant are:
- Tableau Sotwarewith its three products: Tableau Desktop, Tableau Server and Tableau Online.
- Qlik, with its Qlik Sense and Qlik View products
- Thoughtspot
You can find more information in the
Gartner website
The full report can be purchased for a fee from the Gartner website:
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence 2020
