Gartner’s Magic Quadrant, 2011

BY: Collin Quiring

Well, it used to be the “Magic Quadrant” but I guess like everything else it had to be renamed.  Gartner renamed the “Magic Quadrant for IT Project and Portfolio Management” this year to “MarketScope for Project and Portfolio Management Applications.”  A link to the full report is below but the high level summary is the Microsoft’s Project and Portfolio Management software was rated as “Strong Positive” (the highest possible rating).

As an organization that helps companies with their Project Management needs AND their Project and Portfolio Management tools we are always watching to see what happens in the marketplace with software technologies.  We are highly biased towards Microsoft Project and Microsoft Project Server and have felt for some time that this is the technology that is the best in the marketplace.  We also think that in the 2010 release, Microsoft moved even further away from its competitors by adding functionality and abilities that make life easier for its clients.  And, the ability to integrate the Microsoft Project tool with other software like Dynamics AX or even competing products we continue to think this is the best software on the market for Enterprise Project and Portfolio Management.

As an organization, we want to always be careful to watch what the market is doing because we don’t want to have blinders on and be recommending, implementing and consulting with clients on a software package that isn’t the best available.  While we believe that Microsoft’s tool is the best one on the market it is good to get confirmation that the market agrees with us. That is one reason we are happy to let you know about the report that just came out by Gartner.  It is also interesting to us to note how many of the other tools being rated are based upon Microsoft Project or can be considered as “add-ons” or “variations” of Microsoft Project Server (like a web-enabled only version).  We think this is another proof in the market that Microsoft Project and Project Server are valued tools.

For a summary, here is the Gartner Rating Chart:

Get all the gory details about the entire report here:

http://www.gartner.com/technology/media-products/reprints/microsoft/vol14/article21/article21.html

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