www.gartner.com Open in urlscan Pro
18.66.248.120  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

 

Licensed for Distribution

Licensed for Distribution

This research note is restricted to the personal use of ().


MAGIC QUADRANT FOR HYPERCONVERGED INFRASTRUCTURE SOFTWARE

Published 17 November 2021 - ID G00742572 - 24 min read

By Jeffrey Hewitt, Philip Dawson, and 2 more

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


EXPLORE THE INTERACTIVE VERSION


HCI software stacks support infrastructure that spans compute, storage,
networking and management. I&O leaders should regard HCI software as a
technology that addresses requirements related to the cloud-native, edge, hybrid
cloud and virtual desktop infrastructure use cases.

THIS MAGIC QUADRANT IS RELATED TO OTHER RESEARCH:

Critical Capabilities for Hyperconverged Infrastructure Software

View All Magic Quadrants and Critical Capabilities




MARKET DEFINITION/DESCRIPTION

Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) software provides virtualized compute,
storage and networking from a single instantiation running on server hardware.
Initial HCI solutions were sold primarily as appliances by a single hardware
vendor — what Gartner defined as hyperconverged integrated systems (HCIS; see
Market Definitions and Methodology: Integrated Systems). As the market has
evolved, there has been a distinct bifurcation, with HCIS being the direction
driven by hardware providers, and HCI software being driven by software
providers. The latter is the focus of this analysis and is distinct from the
former, because it supports and is deployed to server hardware solutions from
multiple server providers. This HCI software has become the mechanism for
driving solutions that are focused on specific use-case or geographic niches, as
well as solutions that are focused broadly on more cloud-related functionality.

Core capabilities for HCI software are virtual compute, storage and networking,
using a scale-out, shared-nothing architecture combined with unified, “single
pane of glass” management for these virtual resources. Additional core
capabilities include local, direct-attached storage (DAS) in each node;
enterprise-grade, high availability (HA) and mobility, for both compute and
storage; enterprise-grade data services (e.g., deduplication, compression and
erasure coding); and some level of choice in server and network hardware.
Optionally, although network management is required, it can be enabled through
integrated, third-party software by the HCI software provider. Another option
includes the management of cloud-native applications through the support of both
software containers as well as Kubernetes. An additional optional capability has
been to extend the use of HCI software tools to manage applications in a number
of the largest public cloud provider environments such as Alibaba Cloud, Amazon
Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform and Oracle Cloud.


MAGIC QUADRANT


Figure 1: Magic Quadrant for Hyperconverged Infrastructure Software

Source: Gartner (November 2021)





VENDOR STRENGTHS AND CAUTIONS



HUAYUN DATA GROUP

Huayun Data Group is a Niche Player in this Magic Quadrant. Its Archer OS and
Maxta HCI software solutions are focused mainly on hybrid cloud, edge and
virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) use cases. The vendor’s operations are
focused mainly in China, and its clients tend to be small and midsize businesses
(SMBs) in the banking/securities, education, healthcare, manufacturing and
government sectors. Huayun Data Group’s HCI software solution has been enhanced
with ArIQ, which provides automated operational monitoring service and
analytics.
Strengths
 * Huayun Data Group has extended HCI offerings that include backup to Huayun’s
   cloud, a VDI solution with multiple graphics processing unit (GPU) modes,
   ArIQ for automated operational monitoring and the Archer CloudManager cloud
   management platform.
 * Huayun Data Group sells its HCI software solutions as one-time perpetual
   licenses requiring no additional payments for license renewal.
 * When bundled with Archer CloudManager, the vendor’s HCI enables the
   management of VMs and Kubernetes running on a private server cluster, in a
   public cloud, on secondary storage or bare metal.


Cautions
 * Huayun Data Group currently has a limited installed base outside of China,
   which results in support capabilities that vary by geography.
 * Huayun Data Group’s use of both the Archer OS and Maxta HCI brands for
   different countries may be confusing for IT leaders seeking a common solution
   across multiple geographies.
 * The vendor has limited channel and sales partnerships outside of China.




MICROSOFT

Microsoft is a Visionary in this Magic Quadrant. Azure Stack HCI is focused on
providing a hybrid cloud solution that integrates on-premises and edge, VMs, and
container services into the Azure cloud. The vendor’s operations are
geographically diversified, and its clients tend to be midsize to large
enterprises. Azure Stack HCI is offered as a subscription-based, cloud-managed
solution, and it’s based on the version of Hyper-V and HCI stack used in the
Azure cloud.
Strengths
 * Microsoft provides organizations with a comprehensive edge, core data center
   and cloud portfolio, with many common components and familiar management
   tools.
 * This product offers common management with the Azure cloud platform and the
   ability to use Azure cloud services, such as Azure Site Recovery, Azure
   Backup and Azure Kubernetes Service.
 * Microsoft’s Azure Stack HCI is supported on a broad range of vendor hardware
   and is available through Microsoft’s rich selection of partners and system
   integrators (SIs).


Cautions
 * Many organizations are unaware of Azure Stack HCI and confuse it with Azure
   Stack Hub.
 * The subscription pricing mechanism for Azure Stack HCI may not be suitable
   for all organizations. The nonsubscription version requires a full Windows
   Server Enterprise Edition license to be purchased, which may not be
   cost-effective.
 * The tight integration with the Azure cloud requires a commitment to Microsoft
   as both an on-premises and a public cloud vendor.




NUTANIX

Nutanix is a Leader in this Magic Quadrant. Nutanix provides HCI software and
data services for on-premises and public cloud. Its operations are
geographically diversified, and clients tend to be midsize and large
enterprises, and service providers. Nutanix has enhanced its HCI solution to
include application life cycle automation, cost governance, health monitoring
and AI-driven operations. It expanded its unified storage capabilities to
include ransomware signatures, data age analytics and tiering to S3-compatible
object storage, and added disaster recovery (DR) replication of file shares.
Nutanix software is supported on Nutanix NX and specific Dell, Hewlett Packard
Enterprise (HPE), Lenovo, and Fujitsu hardware offerings, as well as on
third-party servers and bare-metal Amazon EC2 instances.
Strengths
 * Gartner clients continually express high satisfaction with the breadth and
   depth of Nutanix HCI software, as well as with the consistency of support
   services, which results in customer loyalty and a 92 Net Promoter Score
   (NPS).
 * Nutanix offers hybrid cloud infrastructure with unified management,
   consistent tooling, and application, data and license portability between the
   edge, data center, as-a-service (through partners) and public cloud (Nutanix
   Clusters) deployments.
 * Nutanix provides a unified platform for multiple workloads and data services.
   Databases are deployed with Era, Kubernetes applications with Karbon and Red
   Hat OpenShift Integration, while unstructured and structured data services,
   disaster recovery (DR), and backup are delivered through Files, Objects,
   Volumes, Leap and Mine services.


Cautions
 * As a premium product, Nutanix HCI might not be a cost-effective solution for
   deployments that do not require advanced functionalities or are not
   leveraging the Nutanix Acropolis hypervisor.
 * While Nutanix invests in hybrid and multicloud product capabilities, the
   customer traction for Nutanix Clusters public cloud is still modest and
   currently only available in AWS.
 * Nutanix customers still require the use of CLI for some advanced
   functionality or troubleshooting capabilities that are not incorporated in
   the GUI.




QUANTUM

Quantum (formerly Pivot3) is a Niche Player in this Magic Quadrant. Quantum
Acuity HCI software is targeted primarily for hybrid cloud, edge and VDI use
cases. Its operations are global, and its clients tend to be large enterprises
in the transportation, utilities and government vertical markets. The vendor has
enhanced its Quantum Acuity HCI software platform with a number of additional
capabilities, including Automated Upgrade Orchestration, a Health and Best
Practices Analyzer, and intelligence and automation capabilities in Quick Drive
Rebuild and Self-Healing feature sets.
Strengths
 * Quantum Acuity HCI’s automation and intelligence features make it both
   resilient and simple to manage at scale.
 * Quantum Acuity HCI is well-suited to meet the large-scale, mission-critical
   requirements typically associated with security and surveillance use cases in
   public spaces such as airports and university campuses.
 * Quantum Acuity HCI has a high level of satisfaction among its existing
   customers.


Cautions
 * Quantum is not yet recognized globally as an HCI software provider;
   therefore, for customers seeking only HCI software with the highest global
   brand recognition, Quantum may not be invited to compete.
 * Because Quantum did not retain any key executives when it purchased Pivot3,
   infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders should closely monitor the future
   direction of the Quantum Acuity HCI product.
 * Quantum’s Acuity HCI software solution may be less compelling than less
   expensive solutions for use cases that are not deemed to be mission-critical
   or those that are smaller in scale.




SANGFOR TECHNOLOGIES

Sangfor Technologies is a Niche Player in this Magic Quadrant. Sangfor’s HCI
software solution is designed for cloud transformation, VDI, and backup and DR.
Sangfor has a long-established security business with a presence in EMEA and the
Asia/Pacific region. Sangfor HCI integrates security functions, which is
attractive to SMBs. The vendor’s operations are still focused around China
(where more than 80% of Sangfor HCI sales occur). Clients tend to be midsize to
large enterprises in the core verticals of manufacturing, government, healthcare
and education. In particular, 2021 has focused on end-to-end continued security,
support for ARM, as well as x86 platforms for private and managed public cloud
infrastructure expanding to edge cloud deployments.
Strengths
 * With its own hypervisor Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM), Sangfor’s HCI
   provides a secure, managed, cost-competitive alternative for midsize
   enterprises (MSEs) around hybrid cloud.
 * Organizations in China benefit from a mature support organization. This can
   meet client needs in the local market, leveraging expansion and contact
   across the Asia/Pacific region and EMEA.
 * Sangfor Technologies has developed an industry vertical approach to the
   market. It creates partnerships with independent software vendors (ISVs),
   deploying sales teams and developing knowledge of regulations to meet the
   needs of organizations across China and elsewhere.


Cautions
 * Local support resources may be limited outside of China and may not qualify
   for consideration across the rest of the Asia/Pacific region and EMEA.
 * Sangfor has limited stack integration with ecosystem partners outside of
   China, when compared with its larger international competitors.
 * The vendor has not been proven in edge locations with its offerings.




SCALE COMPUTING

Scale Computing is a Niche Player in this Magic Quadrant. Its HC3 product is
primarily focused on the edge and VDI use cases. Its operations are primarily
focused in the U.S. and EMEA, with some penetration in Asia. Clients tend to be
SMBs in retail, industrial, education, local government and healthcare. During
the past 12 months, Scale Computing has expanded its support for zero-touch
provisioning and video surveillance solutions.
Strengths
 * Scale Computing offers extremely low-cost solutions that require limited
   hardware investment for edge locations. It provides resource-efficient,
   full-stack software, including its own KVM-based hypervisor.
 * The vendor is highly rated in peer reviews in Gartner Peer Insights in the
   areas of product capabilities as well as sales, deployment and support
   experiences.
 * Scale Computing continues to invest in ease of use and zero-touch management
   to enable customers to manage widely distributed infrastructure and
   applications.


Cautions
 * Scale Computing uses its own KVM-based hypervisor solution, so existing
   skills and licenses are not transferable.
 * The vendor has limited brand recognition. Customers that require a global
   brand may not include Scale Computing in their evaluations.
 * Scale Computing provides a core-to-edge-to-cloud solution that utilizes
   containers across multiple public clouds, but its hybrid cloud solution for
   VMs is limited to a single cloud vendor.




STARWIND

StarWind is a Niche Player in this Magic Quadrant. The StarWind HyperConverged
Appliance (HCA) is primarily focused on reduced node count for hybrid cloud and
edge use cases and distributed data centers. While its operations are global,
with a focus on North America and Europe, its clients tend to be SMBs in the
education, government and healthcare sectors. Recently, the vendor has
modernized its codebase for increased performance, and dedupe and compression
with integration to ZFS.
Strengths
 * The vendor has good HCI and storage expertise, and its full-featured product
   can address most use-case scenarios.
 * StarWind has strong overall customer satisfaction.
 * StarWind has introduced innovation in the hardware and software HCI layers,
   which makes it an attractive price/performance option for SMBs for edge and
   cloud.


Cautions
 * StarWind is one of the smaller vendors in this research in terms of revenue
   and geographic coverage, which limits its ability to gain traction in the
   global enterprise market.
 * StarWind HCI deployments tend to be smaller in node count than those of its
   competitors, because the vendor has been focusing on midmarket enterprise
   needs.
 * The vendor does not offer “preintegrated” HCI bundling by major server OEMs.




STORMAGIC

StorMagic is a Visionary in this Magic Quadrant. Its SvSAN product is primarily
focused on edge and mission-critical use cases for distributed data centers. Its
operations are geographically diversified, with a focus on North America and
Europe, and its clients tend to be midsize to large enterprises in the retail,
manufacturing and government sectors, as well as service providers with edge
deployments. StorMagic is now available as a service through HPE GreenLake
Central and via an added OEM agreement with Hivecell edge servers. Recently,
StorMagic introduced the SvSAN Witness as-a-service capability for remote quorum
and added SvSAN Container Storage Interface (CSI) for Kubernetes. StorMagic has
recently added the ARQvault digital asset management capability based on its
acquisition of the SoleraTec video management company.
Strengths
 * StorMagic HCI capabilities are designed specifically to the unique
   requirements of the edge or distributed data centers.
 * StorMagic SvSAN customers highlight product ease of use, high reliability and
   cost-efficiency.
 * StorMagic is gaining global traction through its relationship with HPE,
   including HPE Complete and the HPE GreenLake as-a-service program.


Cautions
 * I&O leaders often lack familiarity with StorMagic products as the vendor’s
   marketing and sales resources are significantly less extensive compared to
   market leaders.
 * StorMagic SvSAN clusters are optimized for two- or three-node clusters, and
   the product lacks advanced services such as data deduplication, compression,
   snapshots, remote replication, hybrid cloud integration and AI operations
   functions.
 * Some Gartner clients would prefer StorMagic sales and support personnel to be
   more responsive to their inquiries and provide faster problem resolutions.




VMWARE

VMware is a Leader in this Magic Quadrant. Its VMware HCI offering is broadly
focused on hybrid cloud, cloud-native, VDI and edge use cases. Its operations
are geographically diversified, and its clients tend to be midsize to large
enterprises. VMware has expanded the capabilities of HCI Mesh, its
software-defined approach to compute and storage disaggregation, to enable
shared capacity from HCI clusters to non-HCI clusters.
Strengths
 * VMware has jointly engineered hybrid cloud and multicloud support with public
   cloud providers, including AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform,
   Oracle Cloud and IBM Cloud, to support HCI deployments in those public cloud
   environments and utilize a service consumption model.
 * VMware’s significant software installed base ensures that there is a large
   I&O talent pool with skills from which to hire.
 * VMware is a $12 billion, profitable company (based on its FY21 results). It
   has a global reach, so long-term support risks related to corporate viability
   are relatively low, compared with smaller providers.


Cautions
 * VMware’s HCI offerings are among the most expensive in the market, so they
   are less price-competitive when cost is a heavily weighted part of the vendor
   selection process.
 * Because of the multiple storage design considerations that must be taken into
   account, the configuration of vSAN software can be challenging.
 * While other hypervisors can use vSAN storage through SAN iSCSI and file
   services, VMware vSAN itself does not support other hypervisors beyond ESX.






VENDORS ADDED AND DROPPED

We review and adjust our inclusion criteria for Magic Quadrants as markets
change. As a result of these adjustments, the mix of vendors in any Magic
Quadrant may change over time. A vendor's appearance in a Magic Quadrant one
year and not the next does not necessarily indicate that we have changed our
opinion of that vendor. It may be a reflection of a change in the market and,
therefore, changed evaluation criteria, or of a change of focus by that vendor.


ADDED

 * Quantum was added because it purchased Pivot3.



DROPPED

 * DataCore Software was dropped because it was unable to meet the inclusion
   criteria.
 * Pivot3 was dropped because the vendor was purchased by Quantum.





INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION CRITERIA

The inclusion criteria represent the specific attributes that analysts believe
are necessary for inclusion in this research. To qualify for inclusion, vendors
need to meet the following criteria.

Functional Criteria

Included HCI software vendors must:
 * Provide an integrated software stack, which includes unified management and
   software-defined compute, storage and, optionally, networking.
 * Combine virtual machine (VM) and software-defined storage resources, both
   running on the same physical servers, as the primary deployment method.
 * Virtualize local, internal and direct-attached storage, rather than shared,
   networked storage, such as a SAN and/or network-attached storage (NAS).
 * Provide a mechanism to pool internal and direct-attached primary storage
   across servers into logical, abstracted virtual storage.
 * Develop the storage and data management services integrated in the offering.


Business Criteria

Eligible HCI software vendors must:
 * Provide evidence for each product to be evaluated of a minimum of 50
   production customers brought to revenue, with at least 25 in each of at least
   two of the major geographies (the Americas, EMEA and the Asia/Pacific/Japan
   region) in the 12 months ending 30 June 2021.
 * Deliver complete Level 1 (call center/service desk) and Level 2 (escalation)
   support either directly or through a contracted service provider to
   facilitate quick and easy problem resolution. However, Level 3 (engineering)
   support can be delivered separately, based on the vendor’s engineering
   partnerships.
 * Deliver solutions that meet user requirements in at least three of the use
   cases identified in Critical Capabilities for Hyperconverged Infrastructure.
 * Have delivered the product or products evaluated in the companion Critical
   Capabilities research in general availability by 30 June 2021.

 * Provide HCI software that is portable to, sold within the past year to, and
   supported and qualified on branded x86 server hardware of at least two server
   providers beyond any white-box or server hardware branded and badged with the
   HCI software provider’s logo. At least one of those two server providers must
   be one of the top 10 x86-based server OEMs worldwide, based on server vendor
   revenue estimates for 2021 published by Gartner. Those providers are Dell,
   HPE, Inspur, Lenovo, Cisco, Huawei, Super Micro Computer, H3C, Fujitsu and
   Oracle.
 * Own the software IP that enables the management functions and
   software-defined storage (DS) for their solution.


EVALUATION CRITERIA




ABILITY TO EXECUTE

Product or Service: Core goods and services offered by the vendor for the
defined market. This includes current product/service capabilities, quality,
feature sets, skills, etc., whether offered natively or through OEM
agreements/partnerships, as defined in the Market Definition/Description section
and detailed in the subcriteria.

Overall Viability: An assessment of the overall organization’s financial health,
and the financial and practical success of the business unit. Viability also
involves the likelihood that the individual business unit will continue offering
and investing in the product, and advancing the state of the art in the
organization’s portfolio of products.

Sales Execution/Pricing: The vendor’s capabilities in all presales activities
and the structure that supports them. This includes deal management, pricing and
negotiation, presales support, and the overall effectiveness of the sales
channel.

Market Responsiveness/Record: The ability to respond, change direction, be
flexible and achieve competitive success as opportunities develop, competitors
act, customer needs evolve and market dynamics change. This criterion also
considers the vendor’s history of responsiveness.

Marketing Execution: The clarity, quality, creativity and efficacy of programs
designed to deliver the organization’s message to influence the market, and
promote the brand and business. This also involves increasing awareness of the
products, and establishing a positive identification with the product/brand and
organization in the minds of buyers. This mind share can be driven by a
combination of publicity, promotional initiatives, thought leadership, word of
mouth and sales activities.

Customer Experience: Relationships, products and services/programs that enable
clients to be successful with the products evaluated. Specifically, this
includes the ways customers receive technical or account support. This can also
include ancillary tools, customer support programs (and the quality thereof),
availability of user groups, SLAs, etc.

Operations: The ability of the organization to meet its goals and commitments.
Factors include the quality of the organizational structure, such as skills,
experiences, programs, systems and other vehicles that enable the organization
to operate effectively and efficiently on an ongoing basis.


TABLE 1: ABILITY TO EXECUTE EVALUATION CRITERIA

Enlarge Table
 * 



Evaluation CriteriaWeighting
Product or Service
High
Overall Viability
High
Sales Execution/Pricing
Medium
Market Responsiveness/Record
High
Marketing Execution
Medium
Customer Experience
High
Operations
Low



Source: Gartner (November 2021)





COMPLETENESS OF VISION

Market Understanding: The ability of the vendor to understand buyers’ wants and
needs and to translate them into products and services. Vendors that show the
highest degree of vision listen to and understand buyers’ wants and needs, and
can shape or enhance them with their added vision.

Marketing Strategy: A clear, differentiated set of messages consistently
communicated throughout the organization and externalized through the website,
advertising, customer programs and positioning statements.

Sales Strategy: The strategy for selling products that uses the appropriate
network of direct and indirect sales, marketing, service, and communication
affiliates that extend the scope and depth of market reach, skills, expertise,
technologies, services and the customer base.

Offering (Product) Strategy: The vendor’s approach to product development and
delivery that emphasizes differentiation, functionality, methodology and feature
sets as they map to current and future requirements.

Business Model: The soundness and logic of the vendor’s underlying business
proposition.

Vertical/Industry Strategy: The vendor’s strategy to direct resources, skills
and offerings to meet the specific needs of individual market segments,
including vertical markets.

Innovation: Direct, related, complementary and synergistic layouts of resources,
expertise or capital for investment, consolidation, and defensive or preemptive
purposes.

Geographic Strategy: The vendor’s strategy to direct resources, skills and
offerings to meet the specific needs of geographies outside the “home” or native
geography, either directly or through partners, channels and subsidiaries as
appropriate for that geography and market.


TABLE 2: COMPLETENESS OF VISION EVALUATION CRITERIA

Enlarge Table
 * 



Evaluation CriteriaWeighting
Market Understanding
High
Marketing Strategy
Medium
Sales Strategy
Medium
Offering (Product) Strategy
High
Business Model
Medium
Vertical/Industry Strategy
Medium
Innovation
High
Geographic Strategy
Medium



Source: Gartner (November 2021)




QUADRANT DESCRIPTIONS



LEADERS

Leaders will typically be able to execute strongly across multiple geographies,
verticals, use cases and deployment models. They will have a support and channel
organization that ensures a high-quality customer experience, regardless of
whether the solution is purchased directly or through resellers, integration
partners, or OEMs.


CHALLENGERS

Challengers are typically vendors with achievements that, although significant,
are based on a narrower subset of the market, having gaps in geographic
coverage, product portfolios and use cases. These vendors have the potential to
establish themselves across the broader, global market, but have not yet done
so.


VISIONARIES

Visionaries are typically vendors that are focusing on strong innovation and
product differentiation, with the potential to significantly disrupt the market
if execution improves. These may be smaller vendors with limited reach or
achievement to date, or larger vendors with innovation programs that are still
unproven.


NICHE PLAYERS

Niche Players are typically vendors with market programs focused on a limited
set of geographic locations, deployment models, customer segments or use cases.
These vendors have met the inclusion criteria and may address their specific
market category effectively.




CONTEXT

HCI software is not limited to a system (hardware appliance) deployment model.
Software-only/bring-your-own-server, reference architectures, cloud and
as-a-service deployments are growing. Vendors with HCI software often rely on
OEM partnerships and server certifications to provide greater choice and an
improved support experience.

As HCI software has evolved, the integrated support of orchestration tools such
as Kubernetes has increased across many providers. The intent is to provide an
interface that goes beyond HCI itself to facilitate the automated deployment of
containerized applications. The actual use of these orchestration tools
supported by HCI software appears to be in an early phase, but it has become a
requirement for some customers that expect to leverage that container management
capability in the near future.

Simplified management capabilities for infrastructure running — whether it is in
enterprise data centers, at a colocation facility, at the edge or in the public
cloud — is one of the broader goals that leading HCI software providers are
looking to meet.


MARKET OVERVIEW

The HCI software market is demonstrating increasing maturity. Indications of
this are some vendor consolidation and slowing growth. An additional factor is
the rationalization of the most predominant use cases now to four: cloud-native,
edge, hybrid cloud and VDI. It should be noted that VDI may not have remained as
a predominant use case if it was not for the impact of COVID-19 in the form of
an ongoing need for many organizations to support remote working.

Some HCI software vendors continue to expand their deployment options to include
more cloud providers, such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft, with the intent to
be a turnkey private/hybrid cloud. For those HCI software providers, this
emphasizes a focus on tools and capabilities to monitor, secure, manage,
optimize and govern diverse on-premises, cloud and edge deployments. Other HCI
software vendors look to provide specific use-case advantages or high-touch,
regionally appealing solutions in an attempt to establish an effective niche
approach in alignment with HCI software market trends.

Many partners in the HCI software market are also competitors, and I&O leaders
must remain cognizant of the sometimes conflicting priorities and incentives of
HCI software vendors and their partners, as well as rapidly expanding HCI
software partner networks. Full-stack infrastructure software suppliers, such as
Microsoft, Nutanix and VMware, pose interesting partnership challenges, because
each has significant HCI software opportunities in a substantial installed base
of customers.

Vendors that have more hypervisor-neutral — or at least hypervisor-flexible —
offerings may have advantages for customers that want to avoid hypervisor
lock-in. I&O leaders pursuing multihypervisor strategies should carefully
evaluate the ability of solution providers to deliver simplicity at the
management layer.


POTENTIAL HCI MARKET DISRUPTION

Cloud providers Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Oracle could ultimately disrupt
the entire HCI software market. They are further extending their cloud offerings
to on-premises infrastructure with offerings such as AWS Outposts, Google
Anthos, Azure Stack Hub and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Meanwhile, I&O leaders
will have an alternative to public cloud and private data centers by leveraging
IaaS providers that use simpler-to-manage HCI software for their own
infrastructures.


EVALUATION CRITERIA DEFINITIONS


ABILITY TO EXECUTE

Product/Service: Core goods and services offered by the vendor for the defined
market. This includes current product/service capabilities, quality, feature
sets, skills and so on, whether offered natively or through OEM
agreements/partnerships as defined in the market definition and detailed in the
subcriteria.
Overall Viability: Viability includes an assessment of the overall
organization's financial health, the financial and practical success of the
business unit, and the likelihood that the individual business unit will
continue investing in the product, will continue offering the product and will
advance the state of the art within the organization's portfolio of products.
Sales Execution/Pricing: The vendor's capabilities in all presales activities
and the structure that supports them. This includes deal management, pricing and
negotiation, presales support, and the overall effectiveness of the sales
channel.
Market Responsiveness/Record: Ability to respond, change direction, be flexible
and achieve competitive success as opportunities develop, competitors act,
customer needs evolve and market dynamics change. This criterion also considers
the vendor's history of responsiveness.
Marketing Execution: The clarity, quality, creativity and efficacy of programs
designed to deliver the organization's message to influence the market, promote
the brand and business, increase awareness of the products, and establish a
positive identification with the product/brand and organization in the minds of
buyers. This "mind share" can be driven by a combination of publicity,
promotional initiatives, thought leadership, word of mouth and sales activities.
Customer Experience: Relationships, products and services/programs that enable
clients to be successful with the products evaluated. Specifically, this
includes the ways customers receive technical support or account support. This
can also include ancillary tools, customer support programs (and the quality
thereof), availability of user groups, service-level agreements and so on.
Operations: The ability of the organization to meet its goals and commitments.
Factors include the quality of the organizational structure, including skills,
experiences, programs, systems and other vehicles that enable the organization
to operate effectively and efficiently on an ongoing basis.


COMPLETENESS OF VISION

Market Understanding: Ability of the vendor to understand buyers' wants and
needs and to translate those into products and services. Vendors that show the
highest degree of vision listen to and understand buyers' wants and needs, and
can shape or enhance those with their added vision.
Marketing Strategy: A clear, differentiated set of messages consistently
communicated throughout the organization and externalized through the website,
advertising, customer programs and positioning statements.
Sales Strategy: The strategy for selling products that uses the appropriate
network of direct and indirect sales, marketing, service, and communication
affiliates that extend the scope and depth of market reach, skills, expertise,
technologies, services and the customer base.
Offering (Product) Strategy: The vendor's approach to product development and
delivery that emphasizes differentiation, functionality, methodology and feature
sets as they map to current and future requirements.
Business Model: The soundness and logic of the vendor's underlying business
proposition.
Vertical/Industry Strategy: The vendor's strategy to direct resources, skills
and offerings to meet the specific needs of individual market segments,
including vertical markets.
Innovation: Direct, related, complementary and synergistic layouts of resources,
expertise or capital for investment, consolidation, defensive or pre-emptive
purposes.
Geographic Strategy: The vendor's strategy to direct resources, skills and
offerings to meet the specific needs of geographies outside the "home" or native
geography, either directly or through partners, channels and subsidiaries as
appropriate for that geography and market.
 

IS THIS CONTENT HELPFUL TO YOU?



YesNo

© 2022 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a
registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and its affiliates. This publication may
not be reproduced or distributed in any form without Gartner's prior written
permission. It consists of the opinions of Gartner's research organization,
which should not be construed as statements of fact. While the information
contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be
reliable, Gartner disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or
adequacy of such information. Although Gartner research may address legal and
financial issues, Gartner does not provide legal or investment advice and its
research should not be construed or used as such. Your access and use of this
publication are governed by Gartner’s Usage Policy. Gartner prides itself on its
reputation for independence and objectivity. Its research is produced
independently by its research organization without input or influence from any
third party. For further information, see "Guiding Principles on Independence
and Objectivity."

 * About
 * Careers
 * Newsroom
 * Policies
 * Site Index
 * IT Glossary
 * Gartner Blog Network
 * Contact
 * Send Feedback

© 2022 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.



SWITCHING TO SIMPLIFIED SITE

Your browser version is not supported by Gartner.com. Switching to the
simplified version of the site some features will no longer be available to you,
but overall experience will be improved.

Your browser version is currently supported by Gartner.com. If you change to the
simplified version of the site, some features will no longer be available to
you.


PRIVACY PREFERENCE CENTER


By clicking “Accept all,” you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to
enhance site navigation, analyze site usage and assist in our marketing efforts.
To learn more, visit our Privacy Policy and Cookie Notice.
Accept all


SELECT COOKIES

STRICTLY NECESSARY COOKIES


Always Active

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched
off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you
which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy
preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block
or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

Cookies Details‎

TARGETING COOKIES


Targeting Cookies

These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may
be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you
relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal
information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet
device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted
advertising.

Cookies Details‎

FUNCTIONAL COOKIES


Functional Cookies

These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and
personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose
services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some
or all of these services may not function properly.

Cookies Details‎

PERFORMANCE COOKIES


Performance Cookies

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and
improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the
most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All
information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you
do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and
will not be able to monitor its performance.

Cookies Details‎


BACK BUTTON PERFORMANCE COOKIES



Vendor Search Search Icon
Filter Icon

Clear
checkbox label label
Apply Cancel
Consent Leg.Interest
checkbox label label
checkbox label label
checkbox label label

 * VIEW COOKIES
   
   
    * Name
      cookie name

Select and proceed



YOUR PRIVACY IS IMPORTANT TO US


By clicking “Accept all,” you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to
enhance site navigation, analyze site usage and assist in our marketing efforts.
To learn more, visit our Privacy Policy and Cookie Notice.

Customize Accept all