In a previous blog, we announced that Flexera was named a Leader in the 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant for SAM Tools. The “MQ” as many people call it, is a research methodology that includes a graphical positioning of four types of technology providers: Leaders, Visionaries, Niche Players and Challengers.
There are dozens of Magic Quadrant reports, and many of them now have companion research called “Critical Capabilities.” The Gartner Magic Quadrant for SAM Tools is no exception with the recently published Gartner Critical Capabilities for Software Asset Management Tools.
What are the Gartner Critical Capabilities reports?
According to Gartner, Critical Capabilities “enhances the Gartner Magic Quadrant with deeper insight into vendors’ product and service offerings by providing product ratings of key capabilities in critical differentiating usage scenarios.”
Basically, the Magic Quadrant looks at the vendors within a particular market, such as Software Asset Management. The companion Critical Capabilities looks at vendor’s products and ranks them against specific use cases, such as the size of the business or the maturity of their processes.
In addition, the Gartner Critical Capabilities compares the products against each other using a “critical set of differentiators.” Think of these as key product features or “capabilities.”
Flexera Scores Highest!
We’re excited to let you know that Flexera’s FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises scored highest in the Intermediate SAM Functionality and Advanced SAM Functionality use cases!
Advanced SAM Functionality
Intermediate SAM Functionality
12 SAM solutions were scored against three functionality use cases, to help three different types of buyers make strategic buying decisions:
IT Asset Management
It all starts with knowing what’s in your IT ecosystem. Flexera One discovers even the most elusive assets whether on-prem, SaaS, cloud, containers and more.
- Basic SAM: For small to midsize companies
- Intermediate SAM: For medium to large companies
- Advanced SAM: For large enterprises with challenging licensing requirements
The report also rated each SAM tool’s ability to deliver 10 critical capabilities on a 1-5 scale. These critical capabilities include:
- Discovery of software procurements
- Identification of software entitlements
- Normalization of software entitlements
- Discoverer of platforms
- Identification of platform consumption
- Normalization of software consumption data
- Reconciliation of external information
- Optimization of entitlements & consumption,
- Ability to share information
- Total cost of ownership
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 or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Gartner: Critical Capabilities for Software Asset Management Tools, 16 April 2018
