Magic Quadrant for Application Quality Ecosystem, 2005: Leaders and Challengers

The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/all/20050311120359/http://mediaproducts.gartner.com:80/reprints/compuware/article2/article2.html

Magic Quadrant for Application Quality Ecosystem, 2005: Leaders and Challengers
8 March 2005
Theresa Lanowitz

Source:  Gartner
Note Number:  G00124029

IT organizations are focusing on aligning IT with the business. Application quality ecosystems are necessary ingredients to effectively transform the IT organization. One vendor, Mercury, dominates the market.

As IT aligns with the business and focuses on technology as an enabler, enterprises need to assess their overall maturity and approach to how quality is built into applications. Organizations must undergo a transformation to align IT and the business and deliver applications that meet budget, schedule and quality. Use a combination of products from a variety of vendors to deliver the application quality ecosystem.

Mercury will retain at least 50 percent of the market share in the application quality ecosystem market through year-end 2007 (0.8 probability).

The notion of what quality means, how much it is valued and how it is implemented is in the process of undergoing a far-reaching transformation. In 2004, many IT organizations began putting "quality first" in their mission statements. In light of this transformation, we have reassessed our Distributed Testing Magic Quadrant and expanded its purpose so that the products and market it covers is now known as the Application Quality Ecosystem Magic Quadrant. (For a further discussion of this market, see "The Application Quality Ecosystem Market Introduced.") Vendors in the Application Quality Ecosystem Magic Quadrant (see Figure 1) deliver products that integrate at various points of the application life cycle and primarily focus on developer (white box) testing or quality assurance (black box) activities. Here, we discuss the Leaders and Challengers in the market. A discussion of the Niche Players appears in "Magic Quadrant for Application Quality Ecosystem, 2005: Niche Players."

With more than 50 percent market share, Mercury continues to dominate the application quality ecosystem market. During the past 12 months, Mercury has publicized the idea of the Optimization Center model, which takes a role- and function-based approach (see "Vendor Rating Update: Mercury Ascending"). The Optimization Center delivers products and processes for quality assurance professionals responsible for performance and quality, and will enable Mercury to scale the way a customer uses its products, from a project level to the enterprise. The model includes the Performance and Quality Optimization Centers, which handle multiple products and processes and offer an integrated dashboard for reporting. Mercury’s goal is to deliver an integrated dashboard across all five Optimization Centers, giving an end-to-end view of the application life cycle to those responsible for IT governance, quality assurance and operations.

One of the challenges Mercury faces is handling its three product lines: IT governance, application delivery and application management. Each market is at a different level of maturity and acceptance within IT. Mercury must decide where to focus its marketing efforts. During 2003, because of acquisition and integration activity, it appeared the company was ignoring its flagship products in the application delivery space. In 2004, however, Mercury renewed its focus on the line through:

Mercury must expand its offering within the application quality ecosystem to incorporate the needs of the architect and developer. As the integrated development environment evolves into a commodity, the technology used in support of development becomes more crucial. Some primary areas that need attention from all vendors in this market are application architecture, integration and security.

Microsoft's intended entry into the market and the resulting pricing pressure will make it critical that Mercury address its application delivery product line and explore ways to further differentiate its lucrative LoadRunner business. Mercury must tread carefully and show that it can work with Microsoft, rather than competing against it. Mercury will retain at least 50 percent of the market share in the application quality ecosystem market through year-end 2007 (0.8 probability).

During the past 12 months, Compuware emerged from a long slumber and consistently made the shortlists of companies evaluating application quality ecosystem vendors (see "Vendor Rating Update: Compuware in Transition"). Its Compuware Application Reliability Solution (CARS) offering — the first on the market to deliver a combination of people, process and products — gave companies a strong reason to evaluate and investigate Compuware. During 2004, Compuware demonstrated competency in its approach to, and understanding of, the application quality ecosystem. The strategic acquisition of Changepoint places it squarely in line with the trend of aligning IT with the business. In addition, Compuware, once a "go it alone" vendor, is now actively partnering with Microsoft (and actively supporting .NET), SAP, Spherion and Sogeti.

Compuware displays many aspects that Gartner requires in a thought leader. In 2004, the company introduced to the market the concept of risk-based testing, focused on metrics for the alignment of IT and business. Compuware is also delivering a message about the importance of creating an ecosystem.

Compuware is in the midst of a transition from mainframe vendor to a modern application life cycle vendor. In the process of evolving, it must retain one of its most-important strengths: a focus on customer satisfaction. Compuware will be challenged to continue adding value to its mainframe solutions while building a loyal customer base in the distributed market. The company's experienced executive staff will assist in reaching this goal. Compuware's founder, chairman of the board and CEO has been at the helm of the company since its inception in 1973 and has weathered industry and corporate changes. Its COO has been a CIO and has firsthand experience in customers' issues. Watch Compuware's quality assurance initiatives through year-end 2005 to gain insight into some of the larger problems IT encounters with respect to delivering quality applications.

The vendors in the Challengers quadrant provide integrated products or services for multiple phases of the application life cycle. All have strong integration points to areas beyond quality assurance and reach far into the application quality ecosystem.

The philosophy espoused by Empirix posits that the application quality ecosystem market is large enough so that each vendor can find a place if it offers a unique value proposition. Since 2001, Empirix has carved out a position that few vendors contest. Since its inception, Empirix has taken an ecosystem approach to its product lines and integration capabilities and produced an integrated suite of applications that covered multiple phases of the application life cycle before it was stylish to do so. From a technology perspective, Empirix's OneScript technology delivered the common denominator for its testing and management products. Empirix focuses its business in three primary areas:

The company's product line has been integrated to cover multiple phases of the application life cycle. By leveraging its call center technology, Empirix has been able to successfully enter the VoIP market. Empirix is wise to combine its technology and conquer new territories where larger, more-established vendors will not likely venture.

When releasing new products, the vendor has successfully exploited its ability to spot trends and enter the market at the appropriate time. A new trend in the IT industry is collaboration. Empirix is one of a small group of vendors implementing a Web-based collaborative architecture in its products. The company has made informed moves in the market and is held in high regard by its customers for its attention to detail, flexibility and time to value.

In December 2004, IBM Rational introduced the Rational Software Development Platform. This release has built a strong foundation for IBM Rational to move forward and effectively compete in the application quality ecosystem market. The new products are a result of an intensive engineering effort in which the code base was completely rewritten to deliver a modern platform for future products.

A major challenge for IBM Rational is to elevate its message to the concept of composite applications and away from the battlefield of .NET vs. Java. IBM Rational has strong offerings for the future of application modernization. IBM has just begun discussing the integration of its Rational products with its Tivoli products. The delay in releasing cohesive plans regarding the two product lines enabled its competitors to establish solid leads in technology and marketing. In October 2004, IBM announced the acquisition of Systemcorp, which gave it an entry into the burgeoning area of IT governance. IBM must act swiftly to deliver a holistic IT life cycle solution to the market.

Since its inception in 1995, Keynote has attempted to show the market what the "software vendor of the future" will look like. The company has always offered its products as software services and provided integration across its product lines, and was a pioneer in the movement to align IT and the business. Historically, it had more of a presence in the lines of business than in traditional IT development organizations. By offering its products as services, Keynote is able to provide frequent updates, integrate technology quickly and efficiently, and reach business customers and IT staff.

Although Keynote's model of software services is compelling and provides a glimpse into the future of what software companies will deliver, most IT organizations want the ability to choose between a service or a traditional "bits in a box" product. To counter this resistance to the traditional delivery methods for software, Keynote is embarking on leased appliances (for example, Keynote software pre-installed on a rack mount server). This will provide the same security and control offered by typical "bits in a box" software and will also enable the convenience of a subscription model.

Segue's technology has traditionally been favored by the IT "elite." Segue's tradition is intact, and the company is making inroads in the area of the application quality ecosystem by focusing on quality assurance and application performance management. During 2004, Segue revamped its executive management team, expanded partnerships and launched products aligned with its strategy. The new executive staff is eager to show positive change and is working in the areas of technology, marketing and sales to deliver customer focus.

Because of its strong technology, Segue has abundant opportunities to partner with larger vendors. These vendors would be wise to examine Segue's technology strengths and create partnerships to minimize perceived weaknesses. Segue remains a technically elegant solution.

Telelogic has long provided solutions for the complete application life cycle. As a result of several years of acquisition and integration, Telelogic now owns a complete suite of technology. Its suite can tackle multiple phases of the application life cycle and provide a foundation for an application quality ecosystem. Telelogic is one of the few vendors in the Application Quality Ecosystem Magic Quadrant actively pursuing collaboration among its products. The company's requirements product, DOORS, breaks down barriers within the enterprise by enabling collaboration among stakeholders from all organizational entities involved in a project. The rest of the ecosystem can flow from DOORS.

Telelogic had impressive customer wins in the past 12 months. Because of its technical heritage, the company has placed more of a technical spin on its marketing messages and positioning. Potential customers should look past the technical messaging and investigate the vendor's offerings in IT and business alignment.

The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted 8 March 2005 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner’s analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the “Leaders” quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

© 2005 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this publication in any form without prior written permission is forbidden. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Gartner disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. Gartner shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. The reader assumes sole responsibility for the selection of these materials to achieve its intended results. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.

Feb	MAR	Apr
	11
2004	2005	2006