by Brianna Crandall — June 13, 2012—Information technology research and advisory company Gartner, Inc., has released it latest Magic Quadrant for Integrated Workplace Management Systems, which positions IWMS software companies according to their stated vision and their ability to execute that vision.
The Magic Quadrant methodology is a culmination of research in a specific market, giving a wide-angle view of the relative positions of the market’s competitors. It is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period, depicting Gartner’s analysis of how certain vendors measure against a uniform set of evaluation criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. The Magic Quadrant answers the questions: “Who are the competing players in the major technology markets? and “How are they positioned to help you over the long haul?”
For the Magic Quadrant, Gartner evaluates companies in a particular industry and classifies each by one of four quadrants:
- Leaders—those who execute well against their current vision and are well positioned for tomorrow.
- Visionaries—those who understand where the market is going, or have a vision for the future, but don’t yet execute well.
- Niche Players—those who focus successfully on a small segment, or are unfocused and don’t out-innovate or outperform others.
- Challengers—those who execute well, but don’t demonstrate an understanding of market direction.
For the Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS) industry in particular, the companies are evaluated according to several key features, including:
- Rapid evolution to an agile, mobile workforce, with increasing use of mobile devices;
- Reduced time to implement systems;
- Facility monitoring and assessment;
- Effective interoperability between IWMS and other enterprise systems; and
- Strategic portfolio analysis with scenario building, what-if analyses, and financial analyses.
Overall, Gartner reported that the IWMS market experienced considerable consolidation in 2011, resulting in solutions that are much more functional and useful. The company examined five core areas of functionality, which it says are only now starting to display interdisciplinary synergy:
- Project management
- Real estate administration (including portfolio and lease management)
- Space management
- Maintenance management
- Sustainability
Many more IWMS companies are in the Leader Quadrant than ever before. These include: Accruent, ARCHIBUS, Business Integration Group, IBM Tririga, Manhattan Software, Planon Software and Skire. The strengths and weaknesses of each are highlighted in Gartner’s research, with the goal of helping the potential IWMS purchaser make an informed decision. This information is not available other than to Gartner clients.
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings. Nor does the company guarantee the merchantability of a specific company, or fitness for a particular purpose.
