For anyone working in technology PR, who is involved in analyst relations, Duncan Chapple has some interesting analysis of some recent changes to the process behind Gartner’s Magic Quadrant (MQ).
For the unitiated, Gartner’s Magix Quadrant is probably one of the most stressful events in the Analyst Relations calendar as it positions every major vendor against their competitors in their specific market category.
When the MQ is released it is usually followed by heated discussions among 80% of the vendors who are unhappy with their position on the quadrant.
The new changes are to be welcomed, however I think it’s only fair to point out that:
- Many Gartner analysts strongly dislike the whole Magic Quadrant process – they believe that most markets are too complex and fragmented to support a simple matrix representation.
- From Gartner analysts I’ve talked to, they feel under a lot of pressure from their clients to publish them – often if they had a choice they wouldn’t do it.
- I have to say I found Gartner to be very open and fair in their discussions around the last Magc Quadrant I was involved with – though obviously that can differ between analysts.
More on the Magic Quadrant changes from Armadgeddon and Gartner Watch.
Murphy's Law 