Below is a collection of reports published by leading independent analyst firms on, or including, Microsoft. Microsoft has secured all copyright and publishing privileges with the firms to include the reports on this site for all audiences. All reports were researched and funded by the analyst firms themselves.
2016
Microsoft OneDrive for Business Surges Ahead
Mar. 2, 2016
Nucleus Research
Nucleus Research analyzed vendors in the document storage and collaboration space, stating, “With recent advancements made by Microsoft to its enterprise file sync and share (EFSS) solution, OneDrive for Business, the solution wins over competitors Dropbox and Box, particularly with regards to mobile functionality, integration, and a commitment to increasing usability. As seen over the past 24 months, Microsoft is focused on bringing weight to its products across its portfolio. The vendor has emerged ahead by leveraging Office 365 and cloud investments to improve user experience.”
Magic Quadrant for Operational Database Management Systems
Oct. 5, 2016
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner recognized Microsoft as a Leader, positioned furthest to the right for completeness of vision and highest in ability to execute, in the 2016 Magic Quadrant for Operational Database Management Systems.
Cloud Access Security Broker Leadership Compass, 2016
Aug. 2016
KuppingerCole Report
KuppingerCole awarded Microsoft a Leader position in the Overall Leadership and Market Leadership ratings, and Challenger position in the Product Leadership and Innovation ratings. KuppingerCole wrote, “Microsoft Cloud App Security is based on a mature product from Adallom with proven capabilities and customers. It exploits the skills of the Microsoft team and the vast amount of threat intelligence collected by Microsoft to catalogue and rank the risks of the large number of cloud apps available. It enables the user organization to customize usage based on these scores. It provides control over users’ access to cloud apps and the movement of data to the cloud. It integrates with other Microsoft tools to enable encryption of sensitive data and information rights management.”
Wave for Global Public Cloud Platforms for Enterprise Developers, Q3 2016
Aug. 29, 2016
Forrester Research
Forrester has positioned Microsoft in the Leaders category in The Forrester Wave(TM): Global Public Cloud Platforms for Enterprise Developers, Q3 2016 and scored it as the top vendor in the Current Offering category with Microsoft receiving the highest scores in the development experience and platform operations criteria. The report is intended to assist application development and delivery professionals select the right public cloud platform partner. The report evaluated Microsoft and seven other vendors on their current offering, strategy and market presence.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service, 2016
Aug. 23, 2016
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner has positioned Microsoft in the Challengers quadrant in the 2016 Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service. This report specifically evaluated vendors’ telephony capabilities and financial viability, in the maturing enterprise UC market. Gartner says, “UCaaS is now a viable alternative for many (not all) enterprise deployments. Enterprise planners should look for expanded global capacity, better customer service and project management, an expanded set of APIs, and the ability to deploy a richer set of UC functionality led by mobility and video.”
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation
Aug. 10, 2016
Gartner, Inc.
Once again, Gartner has positioned Microsoft in the Leaders Quadrant in the 2016 Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation, based on its completeness of vision and ability to execute in the sales force automation market. Gartner notes that “innovation in SFA will expand to the wider sales-enablement sector — a range of add-on tools and functions designed to make the sales rep’s life more efficient and organized within an SFA environment.”
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Infrastructure as a Service, Worldwide 2016
Aug. 5, 2016
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner has positioned Microsoft in the Leaders Quadrant in the 2016 Magic Quadrant for Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) based on its completeness of vision and ability to execute in the IaaS market. Microsoft is currently the only vendor positioned as a Leader across Gartner’s Magic Quadrants for Cloud Infrastructure as a Service, Server Virtualization, Application Platform as a Service, Identity as a Service, Public Cloud Storage, along with data platform and productivity services. This validates Microsoft’s unique position as a computing leader – with easily integrated offerings across cloud infrastructure services, platform services, SaaS, data analytics and hybrid solutions.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for x86 Server Virtualization Infrastructure, 2016
Aug. 3, 2016
Gartner, Inc.Gartner published the Gartner x86 Server Virtualization Infrastructure MQ with Microsoft landing in the Leader Quadrant for the sixth year in a row. (See graphic below for position.) Microsoft continues to close the gap with VMware, in both the ‘ability to execute’ and the ‘completeness of vision’ assessment. Gartner calls out that “Microsoft is successfully “surrounding” VMware data center deployments with its own deployments in development teams, branch offices, stores and remote data centers…,” and mentions that Windows Server 2016 “will change the competitive dynamic over the next year.” Microsoft’s pricing is listed as a strength – particularly for existing Windows Server customers.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications, 2016
July 13, 2016
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner has positioned Microsoft in the Leaders quadrant in the 2016 Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications. This report specifically evaluated vendors’ telephony capabilities and financial viability, in the maturing enterprise UC market.
Magic Quadrant for Disaster Recovery as a Service, 2016
June 16, 2016
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner has positioned Microsoft in the Leader quadrant in the 2016 Magic Quadrant for Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), citing service feature innovation, cost-effectiveness and simplicity of the provider portal GUI as strengths meriting the Leader status. The reports states that from 2016 through 2020, the use of either DRaaS or IaaS to support the failover of production applications will grow by more than 200%. This report joins other cloud MQs (Cloud IaaS, Application Platform as a Service, Identity as a Service, and Cloud Storage Services), which we believe validates strong Microsoft enterprise cloud leadership.
Magic Quadrant for Mobile App Development Platforms
June 15, 2016
Gartner, Inc.
Mobile apps are at the front line of the digital revolution, and MADPs are becoming the main driver accelerating digital transformation in businesses. We evaluate the major vendors and key trends in this space to help IT leaders select platforms that best match their business and technical needs.
Microsoft SQL Server 2016: An Initial Assessment
June 10, 2016
Ovum
Microsoft recently announced that SQL Server 2016 would hit final release on June 1. Highlights of the release are in several areas: advanced analytics leveraging PolyBase and in-database R support; expanded in-memory options; a new phased migration option to the cloud; and several security features that make data protection more granular. And Microsoft has extended SQL Server’s Reporting Services utility to support the mobile clients that enterprises are expecting as part of the BI stack.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Mobility Management Suites
June 8, 2016
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner recognized Microsoft as a Visionary in the 2016 Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Mobility Management Suites, based on its ability to execute and completeness of vision. This Magic Quadrant evaluates vendors on their ability to help organizations integrate mobile devices into their security frameworks and systems and information technology life cycles. According to Gartner, Visionaries have unique capabilities in certain aspects of EMM. They meet the requirements of customers that place a high priority in certain critical EMM areas.
What Microsoft’s Acquisition of Xamarin Means for Enterprise Mobile App Development and Management
June 8, 2016
Gartner, Inc.
Microsoft acquired its longtime partner Xamarin in March 2016. This acquisition has significant implications for the mobile app development and management capabilities of the Microsoft software stack — implications that mobile app development and operations leaders must consider.
Magic Quadrant for Identity and Access Management as a Service, Worldwide 2016
June 7, 2016
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner has positioned Microsoft in the Leaders Quadrant in the 2016 Magic Quadrant for Identity and Access Management as a Service, based on its completeness of vision and ability to execute in the IDaaS market. Microsoft is currently the only vendor to be positioned as a Leader across Gartner’s Magic Quadrants for Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Cloud Infrastructure as a Service, Server Virtualization, Application Platform as a Service, Identity as a Service, Cloud Storage Services, and as a leader across the data platform and productivity services. We believe this validates Microsoft as a leader across the full spectrum of cloud computing – with easily integrated offerings across cloud infrastructure services, platform services, SaaS, data analytics and hybrid solutions.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for the CRM Customer Engagement Center
May 4, 2016
Gartner, Inc.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM is placed in the Leaders Quadrant of the 2016 Magic Quadrant for the CRM Customer Engagement Center based on its completeness of vision and ability to execute. In the report, Gartner predicts that “Through 2017, 50% of organizations will select SaaS for complex business process support.”
The Forrester Wave™: Big Data Hadoop Cloud Solutions, Q2 2016
April 22, 2016
Forrester Research
Forrester Research recognized Microsoft as a leader in The Forrester Wave™: Big Data Hadoop Cloud Solutions, Q2 2016. Forrester wrote, “Microsoft provides a data lake with all the trimmings… Its strong presence in the database, data warehouse, cloud, spreadsheet, collaboration, BI, OLAP, and development tools markets delivers a growing Hadoop stack to Microsoft customers.
Microsoft Diversifies With Linux Support for SQL Server
March 10, 2016
Gartner, Inc.
On 7 March 2016, Microsoft announced plans to bring SQL Server to the Linux operating system (OS). Microsoft has made the core relational database management system (DBMS) capabilities available for preview and is targeting general availability for mid-2017 (see “Announcing SQL Server on Linux” ). When available in 2017, it will give Microsoft SQL Server the ability to run on both the Windows and Linux OS platforms.
The Forrester Wave™: Enterprise File Sync and Share Platforms, Cloud Solutions, Q1 2016
March 10, 2016
Forrester Research
Forrester Research recognized Microsoft as a Leader in the 2016 Wave for Enterprise File Sync and Share Platforms, Cloud Solutions. Forrester writes, “Microsoft shows strong momentum in the EFSS market. Interest in Microsoft OneDrive for Business is growing as Microsoft ramps up its road map and invests development resources into making this a competitive SaaS EFSS offering. Microsoft’s cloud-first strategy with Office 365 means that OneDrive for Business will continue to have an aggressive road map into 2016. Microsoft has invested in better cross-platform support, including native apps for Android and iOS, to close the feature gap with Windows clients.”
SQL Server on Linux: Hath Hell Frozen Over?
March 08, 2016
IDC
As part of the rollout activities for SQL Server 2016, Microsoft dropped a bomb when it disclosed in a blog that SQL Server 2016 is being ported over to run on Linux. Simply stated, this announcement is both stunning and an incredible statement about how objectively the new Microsoft is looking at opportunities today and potential opportunities for tomorrow.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Warehouse and Data Management Solutions for Analytics 2016
February 25, 2016
Gartner, Inc.
For the fifth consecutive year, Gartner has positioned Microsoft as a Leader in the 2016 Magic Quadrant for Data Warehouse and Data Management Solutions for Analytics, based on its completeness of vision and ability to execute in the data warehouse market.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Advanced Analytics Platforms 2016
February 9, 2016
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner has positioned Microsoft in the Visionaries Quadrant in the 2015 Magic Quadrant for Advanced Analytics Platforms, based on its completeness of vision and ability to execute in the advanced analytics market. By 2020, Gartner predicts predictive and prescriptive analytics will attract 40% of enterprises’ net new investment in business intelligence and analytics.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence and Analytics Platforms 2016
February 4, 2016
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner has positioned Microsoft as a Leader, for the ninth consecutive year, in the Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence & Analytics Platforms, based on its completeness of vision and ability to execute in the Business Intelligence and Analytics market. Microsoft is placed furthest in vision within the Leaders Quadrant.
Survey Analysis: Microsoft Dominates Cloud Email in Large Public Companies but Shares the Rest With Google
January 12, 2016
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner analyzed public mail routing information to find out how the two main competitors in the cloud email space — Microsoft Office 365 and Google Apps for Work — are faring among public companies of different sizes, industries and geographies.
2015
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Web Conferencing, 2015
December 28, 2015
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner positions Microsoft in the Leaders quadrant in its Magic Quadrant for Web Conferencing. Web conferencing as a market is emblematic of a dynamic set of tensions that are the result of vendors seeking to satisfy a diverse set of buyers. The permutations are rich: from on-premises to cloud, integrated VoIP to traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN) conferencing, 180p to HD video, mixed with a set of asynchronous and synchronous collaboration modalities.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Single-Instance ERP for Product-Centric Midmarket Companies 2015
December 9, 2015
Gartner, Inc.
This Magic Quadrant focuses on ERP systems that support a single-instance strategy for multientity midmarket and upper-midmarket companies. Leading vendors are rearchitecting their solutions to adopt in-memory technologies, cloud delivery principles and modern UIs.
Microsoft Announces Dynamics AX in the Cloud: It’s Been a Long Time Coming But Worth the Wait
November 20, 2015
IDC
On November 19, 2015, Microsoft announced that its next release of its flagship ERP solution, Microsoft Dynamics AX, will be available in the cloud in the first quarter of 2016. This release has been a long time coming, but based on what we’ve seen, it appears to be worth the wait as Microsoft delivers all of the capabilities of Dynamics AX on the cloud and leverages the power of the greater Microsoft with SQL Azure, O365, Skype, PowerBI, and much more to deliver a productive and usable application.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Social Software in the Workplace, 2015
October 26, 2015
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner recognized Microsoft as a Leader, positioned furthest to the right for Completeness of Vision and highest on Ability to Execute, in the 2015 Magic Quadrant for Social Software in the Workplace. Gartner writes, “Leaders are well-established vendors with widely used social software and collaboration offerings. They have established their leadership through early recognition of users’ needs, continuous innovation, significant market presence, and success in delivering user-friendly and solution-focused suites with broad capabilities.”
Magic Quadrant for Operational Database Management Systems
October 12, 2015
Gartner, Inc.
Once again, Gartner has positioned Microsoft in the Leaders Quadrant in the 2015 Magic Quadrant for Operational Database Management Systems, based on its completeness of vision and ability to execute in the operational database management systems market.
Impact of Microsoft Skype for Business on the Enterprise Voice Market
September 28, 2015
T3i Group LLC
This 2015 study surveyed over 300 IT and business leaders who are involved in the decision process regarding the adoption and deployment of Lync. This study compares the results of the current 2015 study with those of the study from last year. This research also analyzed the market reaction to the Microsoft strategy of integrating Lync with Skype and rebranding the result as “Skype for Business.”
The Forrester Wave™: Agile Business Intelligence Platforms, Q3 2015
September 25, 2015
Forrester research
Microsoft Power BI leads the Agile BI pack in Forrester’s 15-criteria evaluation of Agile business intelligence vendors. Forrester notes that the “familiar Excel UI, agile in-memory PowerPivot architecture, hybrid (on premises SQLServer-based data, cloud-based Power BI platform) deployment, completeness of BI functionality (from data sourcing to visual storytelling), and low acquisition cost differentiate Power BI from its competition.”
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service, 2015
September 3, 2015
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner positions Microsoft in the Challengers quadrant in its Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service 2015. Gartner writes, “UCaaS offerings are increasingly functionally competitive with their premises-based alternatives. Key 2015 improvements include an improved UCaaS user experience, API connectivity with leading cloud applications, and mobile-first user deployments.”
New Microsoft Power BI Is an Enhanced Offering at a Compelling License Price
August 28, 2015
Gartner, Inc.
Microsoft’s latest release of Power BI features enhanced self-service data preparation, data discovery and dashboards with access to on-premises and cloud data at a compelling price point. In this report, Gartner reviews the new capabilities and provides BI leaders with recommendations on how to respond to the release.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications, 2015
August 10, 2015
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner positions Microsoft in the Leaders quadrant in its Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications. Gartner writes, “UC offers the ability to significantly improve how individuals, groups and companies interact and perform.”
Gartner Magic Quadrant for x86 Server Virtualization Infrastructure
July 14, 2015
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner positions Microsoft in the Leaders’ Quadrant in the Magic Quadrant for x86 Server Virtualization Infrastructure based on its completeness of vision and ability to execute in the market. The x86 server virtualization infrastructure market is defined by organizations that are looking for solutions to virtualize applications from their x86 server hardware or OSs, reducing underutilized server hardware and associated hardware costs, and increasing flexibility in delivering the server capacity that applications need. Microsoft is currently the only vendor to be positioned as a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrants for Cloud Infrastructure as a Service, Server Virtualization, Application Platform as a Service and Cloud Storage Services, and we believe this validates Microsoft’s strategy to enable the power of choice as we deliver industry-leading infrastructure services, platform services and hybrid solutions.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Secure Email Gateways
June 29, 2015
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner recognizes Microsoft as a Leader in the 2015 Magic Quadrant for Secure Email Gateways, which evaluates 16 vendors in the market. According to Gartner, the secure email gateway market is experiencing “renewed interest” due largely to an increase in targeted phishing attacks. Secure email gateways provide basic message transfer agent functions; inbound filtering of spam, phishing, malicious and marketing emails; and outbound data loss prevention (DLP) and email encryption.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud Storage Services
June 25, 2015
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner positions Microsoft in the Leaders Quadrant in the Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud Storage Services, based on its completeness of vision and ability to execute in the market. Microsoft is currently the only vendor to be positioned as a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrants for Cloud Infrastructure as a Service, Server Virtualization, Application Platform as a Service and Cloud Storage Services, and we believe this validates Microsoft’s strategy to enable the power of choice as we deliver industry-leading infrastructure services, platform services and hybrid solutions.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Client Management Tools
June 11, 2015
Gartner, Inc.
For the eleventh consecutive year, Gartner recognized Microsoft as a Leader in the 2015 Magic Quadrant for Client Management Tools (previously called Magic Quadrant for PC Configuration Life Cycle Management), based on its completeness of vision and ability to execute in the Client Management Tools market. Gartner notes the vendors in the Leaders quadrant have unique characteristics that position them favorably for future market success.
Microsoft is one of the only vendors to be positioned in all three Gartner’s Magic Quadrants for Enterprise Mobility Suites, Identity and Access Management as a Service and Client Management Tools. We believe this validates Microsoft’s strategy to provide a combined suite that enables companies to manage computers, devices and applications with identity at the center.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Mobility Management Suites
June 8, 2015
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner recognized Microsoft as a Visionary in the 2015 Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Mobility Management Suites, based on its ability to execute and completeness of vision. This Magic Quadrant rates vendors on their ability to help organizations integrate mobile devices into their security frameworks and systems and information technology life cycles. According to Gartner, Visionaries have unique capabilities in certain aspects of EMM. They meet the requirements of customers that place a high priority in certain critical EMM areas.
Microsoft is one of the only vendors to be positioned in all three Gartner’s Magic Quadrants for Enterprise Mobility Suites, Identity and Access Management as a Service and Client Management Tools. We believe this validates Microsoft’s strategy to provide a combined suite that enables companies to manage computers, devices and applications with identity at the center.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Identity and Access Management as a Service
June 4, 2015
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner recognized Microsoft as a Visionary, positioned furthest to the right for completeness of vision, in the 2015 Magic Quadrant for Identity and Access Management as a Service. This Magic Quadrant rates vendors on their ability to be global, general-purpose identity and access management (IAM) service providers for multiple use cases. According to Gartner, Visionaries are noted for their innovative approach to IDaaS technology, methodology and/or means of delivery. They may see IDaaS as a key part of a much broader service portfolio. They often may have unique features, and may be focused on a specific industry or specific set of use cases. In addition, they have a strong vision for the future of the market and their place in it.
Microsoft is one of the only vendors to be positioned in all three Gartner’s Magic Quadrants for Enterprise Mobility Suites, Identity and Access Management as a Service and Client Management Tools. We believe this validates Microsoft’s strategy to provide a combined suite that enables companies to manage computers, devices and applications with identity at the center.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Infrastructure as a Service, Worldwide
May 18, 2015
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner has positioned Microsoft in the Leaders Quadrant in the 2015 Magic Quadrant for Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) based on its completeness of vision and ability to execute in the IaaS market. Microsoft is currently the only vendor to be positioned as a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrants for Cloud Infrastructure as a Service, Application Platform as a Service, Cloud Storage Services and Server Virtualization, and we believe this validates Microsoft’s strategy to enable the power of choice as we deliver industry-leading infrastructure services, platform services and hybrid solutions.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for the CRM Customer Engagement Center
April 27, 2015
Gartner, Inc.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM is placed in the Leaders Quadrant of the 2015 Magic Quadrant for the CRM Customer Engagement Center based on its completeness of vision and ability to execute.
Cloud Office Questions Begin the Shift From ‘If’ to ‘When’
April 22, 2015
Gartner, Inc.
Very soon, the question facing enterprise collaboration and communications leaders will not be whether to move these workloads to the cloud, but how painful will it be to remain on-premises? According to Gartner, in general, cloud users will have the best and most economical experience. Organizations that keep their communications and collaboration deployments on-premises will miss out on cloud-only innovations and features, such as content visualization and discovery, virtual personal assistants, “smart” inboxes and unlimited storage.
The Forrester Wave™: Enterprise Business Intelligence Platforms, Q1 2015
March 27, 2015
Forrester Research
In Forrester’s 60-criteria evaluation of enterprise business intelligence platform vendors, Microsoft was placed in the Leaders ripple. Forrester writes, “With every new release of SQL Server, Office, Office 365, and SharePoint (by continuing to introduce large enterprise BI features), Microsoft is making it easier for organizations to say “why not use Excel for enterprise BI.” Forrester’s clients often choose Microsoft for BI solutions because it offers one-stop shopping from desktop productivity tools to enterprise application servers and databases, including cloud-based deployments.”
The Forrester Wave: CRM Suites for Large Organizations, Q1 2015
March 25, 2015
Forrester Research
In this Forrester Wave evaluation of customer relationship management (CRM) suites for enterprise organizations, Forrester identified the nine most significant CRM suites solutions—and researched, analyzed, and scored them.
The Forrester Wave: CRM Suites for Midsize Organizations, Q1 2015
March 25, 2015
Forrester Research
In this Forrester Wave evaluation of customer relationship management (CRM) suites for midsize organizations, Forrester identified the 10 most significant CRM suites solutions—and researched, analyzed, and scored them.
Migrating from SQL Server 2005
Feb. 1, 2015
Directions on Microsoft
For systems running older SQL Server versions there are many possible migrations options to minimize the effort, including both on-premises and hosted destinations.
Microsoft Lync (Skype for Business): What Do Adoption Trends Mean for Your Organization?
Jan. 20, 2015
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner provides insight on current and future Lync telephony adoption and recommendations for enterprise IT planners for evaluating how to integrate Lync in initiatives. The report states, “Gartner expects Microsoft Lync, as a telephony solution, to continue its rapid adoption rate, earning Microsoft a coveted top-three position as a global telephony provider by 2016.”
Microsoft Azure RemoteApp Enters the Virtual Client Computing Market
Jan. 16, 2015
IDC
IDC analyzes Microsoft Azure RemoteApp as a virtual client computing solution. Among the conclusions, IDC states, “With IT budgets remaining virtually flat, many organizations will seek application remoting solutions in an effort to reduce the up-front complexity and capex cost commonly associated with implementing on-premises client virtualization solutions. As a result, with Azure RemoteApp, Microsoft offers a compelling solution to IT organizations looking to deploy and manage business applications from a turnkey, cloud service and make them accessible to users on multiple device types, across various regions.”
2014
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Single-Instance ERP for Product-Centric Midmarket Companies
Nov. 26, 2014
Gartner, Inc.
The Magic Quadrant focuses on ERP systems that support a single-instance strategy for multientity midmarket and upper-midmarket companies. Leading systems are modernized around product and delivery, but most are still slow to support a postmodern strategy and to offer IMC capabilities.
Predicts 2015: The Digital Workplace Underscores the Benefits of a Consumerized Work Environment
Nov. 13, 2014
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner’s five digital workplace predictions highlight the major impact that consumerization and engagement trends will have on business, IT and workforce strategies. By 2018 the most transformational digital workplace productivity technologies (personal and group) will be available only in the cloud. If the business can benefit from rapid innovation cycles, begin planning a move to a cloud-based office suite.
Nucleus Research Technology Value Matrix Second Half 2014 ERP
Nov. 1, 2014
Nucleus Research
Enterprise application vendors have continued to invest in making their applications more usable, as buyers expect support for broader user productivity and enablement. With leaders accelerating the pace of releases focused on user interface (UI), mobile, and in-application data to align themselves with Dark Cockpit principles, others have been challenged just to maintain their position.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Integrated Marketing Management
Oct. 27, 2014
Gartner, Inc.
Integrated marketing management (IMM) represents the marketing strategy, process automation, and technologies required to integrate people, processes, campaigns, channels, resources, and technologies across the marketing ecosystem. Microsoft moved into the Challengers quadrant. Companies seeking a solution that integrates campaign management, marketing resource management, and analytics should review this research.
Magic Quadrant for Corporate Telephony
Oct. 21, 2014
Gartner, Inc.
For the first time, Gartner has positioned Microsoft in the Leaders quadrant in its Magic Quadrant for Corporate Telephony. Gartner writes, “Telephony platforms are migrating to software-based solutions that are tightly integrated within a UC suite.” The report also notes, “Enterprises looking to upgrade legacy systems can use this research to decide whether to stay with an incumbent vendor or consider alternative suppliers.”
Vendor Rating: Microsoft
Oct. 17, 2014
Gartner, Inc.
Microsoft provides software, cloud services and hardware for computing, collaboration and gaming to enterprises and consumers. Microsoft’s transition to a ‘mobile first, cloud first’ strategy under new CEO Satya Nadella aspires to thought leadership commensurate with its strong market position.
Windows 10 for PCs Will Let Organizations Choose How Often They Update
Oct. 15, 2014
Gartner, Inc.
Microsoft’s next release of Windows will run on PCs, tablets and smartphones; addresses most complaints about Windows 8; and includes many new enterprise features. According to Gartner, IT leaders should start planning their eventual exit from Windows 7 to Windows 10.
Making the Case for Migrating From Windows Server 2003 Before Risks Multiply
Oct. 14, 2014
Gartner, Inc.
IT leaders know that with the end of extended support for Windows Server 2003 in less than a year, it is essential that all services move to supported environments before support lapses. Senior management or business department resistance to the migration may be overcome by a clear risk-based case.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Content Management
Sept. 25, 2014
Gartner, Inc.
For the seventh consecutive year, Gartner positions Microsoft in the Leaders Quadrant in its Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Content Management (ECM). According to Gartner, “The worldwide market for ECM software grew by 8.6% in 2013, to a revenue total of $5.1 billion, which indicates that ECM technologies continue to attract more users and deliver value to enterprises.” To meet the market’s needs, more ECM vendors are offering cloud-based environments, mobile interfaces and social capabilities.
Nucleus Research comments on Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015
September 2014
Nucleus Research
On September 16, 2014, Microsoft announced Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 and updates to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online and Microsoft Dynamics Marketing. In looking at the new capabilities, Nucleus found it could streamline collaboration between marketers and sales people to increase productivity and accountability and reduce administrative overhead.
Microsoft and Salesforce.com Make Waves in the IDaaS Pool
Aug. 22, 2014
Gartner, Inc.
Microsoft and salesforce.com have added IDaaS capabilities to their portfolios of platform services. These vendors’ IDaaS offerings may be compelling, particularly for their established customers. PaaS vendors will grow IDaaS market share more rapidly than pure-play IAM vendors.
Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications
Aug. 04, 2014
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner positions Microsoft in the Leaders quadrant in its Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications. Gartner writes “UC offers the ability to significantly improve how individuals, groups and companies interact and perform.” The report identifies five UC characteristics that will impact the success of a product and the satisfaction of users, including the user experience, mobility, interoperability, cloud and hybrid and broad solution appeal.
MarketScope for IT Project and Portfolio Management Software Applications
May 19, 2014
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner rates Microsoft “positive” based on an evaluation of Project Server 2013. The report defines IT Project and Portfolio Management as “a discipline central to helping organizations realize strategy, develop core business capabilities, manage ongoing change and optimize IT project investments.”
The Forrester Wave(tm): Customer Service Solutions For Enterprise Organizations, Q2 2014
April 07, 2014
Forrester Research
Customer Service is the Cornerstone of a Great Customer Experience. However, delivering good service is difficult. Nearly 70% of US consumers reported an unsatisfactory service interaction during the past 12 months. Organizations must navigate rapidly changing customer expectations and look for vendor solutions that enable the business capabilities necessary to deliver differentiated experiences.
The Forrester Wave(tm): Customer Service Solutions For Small And Midsize Teams, Q2 2014
April 07, 2014
Forrester Research
The customer service needs for a business-to-business (B2B) company are not the same as the needs for a B2C company. Likewise the needs of a phone customer service agent are not the same as that of a customer service agent supporting digital or social channels. As you refine your vendor selection, carefully evaluate the criteria in this evaluation to pick a solution that is right for your needs.
2013
Microsoft Announces Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 (.pdf file, 102 kb)
Sept. 01, 2013
Nucleus Research
Microsoft announced planned availability for the next release of Dynamics NAV, 2013 R2, for October 2013. Integration between Dynamics NAV, Office 365, and SharePoint will make it easier for users to work without disruption and drive greater productivity. Microsoft also announced more cloud deployment options and management capabilities. Between now and October, Microsoft’s guidance on which cloud options make the most sense for whom would help both partners and customers.
Nucleus Research CRM Technology Value Matrix for H2 2013 (.pdf file, 256 kb)
Sept. 01, 2013
Nucleus Research
Nucleus Research has positioned Microsoft Dynamics CRM in the Leaders Quadrant of the Nucleus Research CRM Technology Value Matrix for H2 2013 based on its usability and functionality.
Disclaimer:
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.