Founded in 1979 by Gideon Gartner and went public in Oct. 1993, Gartner (formerly Gartner Group, Inc.) is a leading research and advisory firm that arms businesses all over the world with the right actionable intelligence, data and tools to achieve strong business outcomes. Gartner is a trusted business advisor and consultant for more than 14,000 businesses in 100+ countries. The company offers over 80 premium services in the range of $10,000 to $18,000 per years. But the customers say their offerings are worth the fees. Two such popular Gartner offerings that help businesses keep up with the rapid pace of digital transformation are Magic Quadrant and BuySmart. These are Gartner’s research based offerings that typically target CIOs and IT product or project managers.

What is Gartner Magic Quadrant?

The Magic Quadrant (MQ) is probably one of the hottest topics within the business intelligence marketplace these days. The Magic Quadrant is a culmination of market research reports published by Gartner – a global information technology research and advisory firm that provides objective-oriented resources and actionable insights to businesses all over the world. The MQ is basically a research methodology that provides in-depth analyses and visual snapshots of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. The quadrant provides a relative positioning of technology providers in fast growing markets in regards to their competitors. The quadrant positions companies in terms of their ability to execute and the completeness of their vision.

The quadrant is like an assessment tool that monitors and evaluates the companies’ position in a specific, technology-based market based on four distinct quadrants, hence the name magic quadrant.

1. Leaders – Leaders represent the big players in the major technology markets and the highest scorers based on both ability to execute and completeness of vision. They kind of have the stronghold in a specific market segment, the credibility, and financial stability.
2. Challengers – Challengers, as the name suggest, are strong vendors who have the ability to disrupt the market and potential to challenge those in the Leaders quadrant. They may lack the vision but if they perform well consistently, they may dominate a large market segment.
3. Visionaries – Visionaries are the ones who can envision the future and they work with the big picture in mind. They are inventors and innovators with the ability to change the world with their bold ideas and futuristic vision.
4. Niche Players – Niche Players often focus narrowly on a small segment and they lack vision to outsmart their competition. Typically new companies, particularly startups come in this category.

The Gartner Magic Quadrant does not endorse any company, product or service depicted in the quadrant; it provides an unbiased assessment of performance of companies in their respective niche market in terms of their strengths and weaknesses. The quadrant positions the four types of technology providers in a defined market.

What is Gartner BuySmart?

BuySmart is a Gartner’s proprietary business consulting service that helps businesses identify their financial and technical requirements, and match them seamlessly with technology solutions. Organizations often look for new vendors or technology providers as they race to adopt new ways of doing things and leverage market opportunities so that they can get more done, more quickly and cheaper, while keeping the new technology trends in mind. BuySmart helps those businesses procure new technologies with ease while obtaining the best pricing and terms for their purchases and avoiding the common pitfalls so that they can buy the new tech without looking over their shoulders.

The market is flooded with all kinds of vendors all promising they have the best solution for all the business requirements your organization may have. Having so many options is a good thing, but it makes things tough, especially when it comes to choosing the right solution. BuySmart goes that extra mile and takes a multivendor approach, assessing the risks and prioritizing cost optimization initiatives, to find the right technology provider for your organizational needs. In a nutshell, BuySmart is your business advisor and consultant that helps you buy new technology with confidence.

Difference between Gartner Magic Quadrant and BuySmart

Tool

 – The Magic Quadrant is culmination of in-depth reports based on market research prepared by Gartner to monitor and assess the position of enterprises or organizations in a specific, technology-based market. It gives ratings to companies in terms of their ability to execute and the completeness of their vision.

BuySmart is a Gartner’s proprietary business consulting service that helps organizations procure new technologies based on their needs while providing the best pricing and terms for their purchases using a multivendor approach.

Purpose

 – The purpose of the Gartner Magic Quadrant is to provide a relative positioning of the top performers in the market based on their strengths and weaknesses within a specific niche market. The reports help investors looking to find the right company that fits their requirements and businesses looking for insights to stay ahead of the game.

The purpose of BuySmart consulting service is to find the best deal an organization can get when looking to buy a new technology to drive their business stability and continuity on the long haul. BuySmart identifies their technical and financial needs and find the right deal while reducing redundancies so that they can achieve their business goals faster.

Magic Quadrant vs. BuySmart: Comparison Chart

Summary

Both are Gartner’s popular and widely used research-based offerings that help businesses around the world keep up with the rapid pace of digital transformation in this digital era. The Magic Quadrant is a research methodology that provides in-depth analyses and visual snapshots of a marketplace at and for a specific time period, putting the top market performers on one of the four quadrants based on their strengths and weaknesses. BuySmart, on the other hand, is a business consultancy service that enables businesses to buy smart and invest without looking over their shoulders.

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