With the recent release of Gartner’s latest Magic Quadrant for Software Asset Management report published on the 20th July 2020, Certero asks whether the reliance of information intelligence gathered from the traditional analyst house is now a source of concern and that can actually harm the delivery of SAM solutions and leave businesses even more exposed.

As businesses across the globe face the daunting reality of increased audits due to the impact of COVID-19, the latest Magic Quadrant (MQ), released by Gartner for the Software Asset Management (SAM) industry, has raised serious concerns about the factual content of the Gartner’s Magic Quadrant report.
The aim of Gartner’s MQ is to provide an impartial, factual overview of the key players within the SAM industry and help businesses understand the technology providers they might consider for a specific IT technology investment opportunity.

Steve Willmore, CMO of Certero, commented: “The importance of data accuracy in the SAM market is key, and we at Certero always focus on providing our customers with accurate data.  The report is a clear demonstration that the market needs to look beyond an industry analysis as it has potential to represent inaccurate information which can affect an organization’s ability to choose the right partner.”

Certero believes the SAM market has not moved on enough from the outdated 2010 way of delivering SAM solutions and believe global organizations actually need a solution that is fit for 2020 and beyond.
Willmore adds: “An IT and SAM platform should always focus on one thing – data accuracy first. At Certero, we set out on a path to deliver the best IT Hardware and Software Asset Management solution by doing it differently from the other players within this industry.”

“Working with an IT solution such as Certero is an important investment, and CIOs and IT Managers should look beyond a single inventory and analytics report to discover a technology provider that is reputable, credible and suitable for a client’s IT requirement.” Said Willmore.

When CIOs and IT Managers are looking to invest in a new solution platform that helps manage their IT estate, many will want to work with a solution that will find, manage and optimize all their IT assets in one place. The technology landscape is evolving at rapid speed and it’s more important than ever for IT managers to future-proof their IT estate to prepare for new cyberthreats, especially with the rise of remote working, and provide essential tools that ensure business continuity.

With the digital landscape evolving at rapid speed, it’s key that businesses and IT departments partner with a company that has a solution that challenges the outdated SAM2010 approach and delivers a differentiated SAM2020 solution that is fit for the 21st century economy. Certero recommends that organizations should undertake their own analysis and proof of concept, to fully understand the offering and benefits IT solution provides. One that can be completely delivered as SaaS and offers true ‘unification’ of all their assets, via a single pane of glass and a single source of normalized data, straight out of the box.

ITAM Channel take on this article:
I support Certero’s assertion that a business should not solely rely on the Gartner Magic Quadrant in selecting a SAM Suite – you ignore your own unique circumstances in doing so.  e.g. if your company is nationally based, what does it matter if a SAM suite provider has offices in four other continents?  Certero scored exceptionally well in the previous MQ assessment because it took the time to get customer engagement correct – indeed I recall Monash University in Australia singing Certero’s praises at an IT Conference in Sydney.  If though, they feel they have been mis-represented in the latest SAM tools MQ, perhaps they should take the time to review whatever submission they made to Gartner, and to conduct a lesson learnt exercise – while also examining those companies to the right (and above) that have ended up in the top right hand corner – don’t hate the player, hate the game!