Magic Quadrant

The Magic Quadrant (MQ) are a series of market research reports published by the United States research and advisory firm, Gartner, which aim to provide a qualitative analysis into a market and its direction, maturity and participants. Their analyses are conducted for several specific technology industries and are updated every 1–2 years.

Gartner rates vendors upon two criteria: completeness of vision and ability to execute. Using a methodology which Gartner does not disclose, these component scores lead to a vendor position in one of four quadrants:

It has been pointed out that the criteria for the Magic Quadrant cater more towards investors and large vendors than towards buyers.

Much of the criticism is focused on the lack of disclosure of the money received from the vendors it rates, raising conflict of interest issues. Also a source of criticism is the lack of disclosure on the vendor's component scores and the lack of transparency in Gartner's methodology used to derive the vendor's position on the MQ map.

The Magic Quadrant, and analysts in general, also skew the market: according to research conducted by a Scottish lecturer, by applying their methodologies to describe a market, they change that marketplace to fit their tools.

Another criticism is that open source vendors are not considered sufficiently by analysts like Gartner, as has been published in an unusual online discussion between a VP from Talend and a German Research VP from Gartner.

Gartner was the target of a federal lawsuit (filed May 29, 2009) from software vendor, ZL Technologies, challenging the “legitimacy” of Gartner’s Magic Quadrant rating system. Gartner filed a motion to dismiss by claiming First Amendment protection since it contends that its MQ reports contain "pure opinion," which legally means opinions which are not based on fact. The court threw out the ZL case because it lacked a specific complaint. That decision was upheld on appeal.

Analyzed markets include:

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