Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Asset Management

for Transmission and Distribution, 2007

Gartner RAS Core Research Note G00150970, Kristian Steenstrup, Dan Miklovic, 21 September 2007

For utility transmission and distribution companies searching for

work and asset management maintenance software solutions, we
analyze stand-alone software products that solve asset
management problems.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

We have previously published generic, cross-industry enterprise asset management (EAM)
Magic Quadrants, as well as work and asset management (WAM) Magic Quadrants. These
are now combined into a distribution-utility-specific EAM Magic Quadrant. Changes in
customer buying criteria and vendor offerings, resulting in more industry-specific needs and
expectations, are reflected in our new market separation – we evaluate EAM products for
distribution, manufacturing and natural resources, in separate publications.

Component EAM (and computerized maintenance management system [CMMS]) products

suitable for distribution companies have been increasingly served by EAM vendors with
versions or adaptations for this industry sector. Some suite vendors also actively market their
EAM modules as stand-alone offerings and sell them as specialized maintenance solutions.
(Other suite vendors offer them only as part of the ERP suite being marketed and so have a
market for EAM limited to their own customer base.)

In this sector, clients will need to look at their overall application portfolios and plan how their
work or EAM solutions will interact with other related components such as geographic
information system (GIS), customer information system (CIS), outage management and work
scheduling. With increased concerns about the aging workforce and reliability, regulators are
likely to decide favorably on cost recovery for these investments.

Transmission and distribution companies should also make key architectural decisions such
as going with a component approach or single ERP suite solution as part of their EAM
selection processes. Then, based on the relative importance of asset reliability and availability
to the overall success of the business, companies select the vendor that best fits into their
architectures while offering the optimum mix of functionality for their generating portfolios and
locations. Vendors vary widely in scalability and functionality, and a solution appropriate for
one client may lack critical functionality appropriate for another.

While the scope of this assessment is global, some vendors specialize in geographies, so
vendors must not be chosen based on size alone, and because the Magic Quadrant process
is by necessity an “averaging” of vendors’ offerings and performance, we always recommend
consulting the authoring analyst to get specific advice on needs, location and industry
subsector (such as power, gas or water). Long-term vendor viability remains a factor in most
customer evaluations, and potential buyers should examine current profitability, as well as a
long-term commitment to products and markets.
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MAGIC QUADRANT Figure 1. Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Asset Management
We analyzed the transmission and distribution (T&D) for Transmission and Distribution, 2007
EAM market, which for our purposes includes the
reactive customer work managed traditionally by
challengers leaders
specialist work. This evaluation includes leading
vendors that offer products addressing WAM needs
for utility delivery companies. This assessment
focused on the vendors providing applications used
to manage work associated with transmission (for
example, electric transmission lines/substations and
gas pipelines) and distribution (for example, electric
wires, gas pipes and water pipes). It covers various

ability to execute
work types, including construction (capital),
inspections, operations and maintenance (O&M), and
Mincom IBM Maximo
service orders.

SAP
Market Overview
The market segment considered for this Magic
Quadrant is utility delivery organizations (T&D utilities, Oracle E-Business Suite
water and gas utilities) that seek software solutions
for the management and support of internally owned Ventyx
assets in a spatially distributed environment. Their
focus is to keep plant, equipment facilities and linear IFS
assets available, with minimal downtime and at the LogicaCMG
lowest cost to maximize revenue. Oracle Utilities
These systems almost universally encompass asset
management and material management (for example, niche players visionaries
inventory and purchasing) functionality and include
mobile capabilities. The most-advanced installations completeness of vision
involve integration with ERP to support supply chain
management and procurement, GISs to support As of September 2007
asset management, and CISs to support customer Source: Gartner (September 2007)
service. Utilities should consider work management
systems to be nondiscretionary, or core, investments.

Utility EAM packages primarily have material and maintenance depreciation on highly customized legacy systems and software.
management functionality (or sometimes the vendor packages and We estimate that spending on T&D EAM and services, as
sells in that format) that is scalable to multiple sites and caters to previously defined, is currently $500 million to $600 million globally.
advanced maintenance management functions. A sometimes (Note: This estimate includes professional services provided by
interchangeable term is “CMMS packages.” CMMS packages application vendors and does not include internal spending,
include material and maintenance functionality, but they are simpler hardware, or professional services provided by others for the
in scope and are focused on single-site deployments, which may implementation or integration of EAM.)
even be used by large enterprises if a site-by-site or departmental
solution is required. WAM packages have largely been supplanted Vendors with broad offerings – mobile workforce, advanced
by EAM packages extending into the short-term and reactive work scheduling, outsourced service management, work management
planning arena. (construction/maintenance/service) and supply chain management
– will continue to lead this market. These offerings can come as
Growth drivers include concerns about reliability in North America, product suites or as a solution set from multiple products or
the need for automation to aid network reliability in developing vendors with strong partnerships (in which case, ease of
countries such as India and China, and the exhaustion of integration is paramount). However, in this evaluation, we are

The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted September 2007 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.

© 2007 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction and distribution 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. Although Gartners research may discuss legal issues related to the information technology business, Gartner
does not provide legal advice or services and its research should not be construed or used as such. Gartner shall have no liability for errors, omissions or
inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.
 3
primarily looking at the EAM component, which is frequently • Capital construction planning (based on compatible units)
selected and installed as a discrete unit. The drive to automate defining linear assets and geographic locations
end-to-end business process will force consolidation and • Long-term maintenance, project and work schedules
extension to other applications (for example, CISs, asset (integration with GIS)
management and mobile workforce management, which is being
• Short-term maintenance, client requests and failure recovery
built out by Oracle, SAP, Ventyx and Mincom). Utility companies
work schedules.
will benefit through fewer vendors to manage and, in the long
term, by access to capabilities for T&D asset and resource
optimization. Market Definition/Description
In the words of Geoffrey Moore, a market is “a set of actual or
Utilities evaluating WAM solutions should seek financial stability, potential customers for a given set of products or services who
advanced technology/ease of integration, functionality across all have a common set of needs or wants, and who reference each
work types (construction, service, inspection and maintenance), other when making a decision”.
and customer service and analytics. Because of close regulatory
scrutiny, reliability concerns and the need for operational We have previously published work management market
excellence, the vendor’s ability to execute will continue to be assessments. In our first market assessment (1Q03), we adhered
important, though with consolidation and market maturation, we to industry convention and prior publications and called it the “work
expect the importance of vendor completeness of vision to rise. management system” market; we later renamed it “work and asset
management” (WAM). These systems are now described as an
Ultimately, we predict application convergence to create an industry-specific variant of the broader class of EAM (enterprise
enterprise solution covering the asset life cycle (design, procure, asset management) functionality, and they frequently include mobile
operate, maintain and retire) and functionality (mobile workforce, work capabilities. The most-advanced installations involve
work and asset management, customer service/field, and business integration with ERP to support supply chain management and
analytics) to achieve resource and asset optimization. However, in procurement, with GISs to support asset management and with
the market today, utilities are still planning and buying individual CISs to support customer service.
functional components, frequently from multiple vendors.
This particular market of component solutions is often referred to
For T&D companies, the functionality must be capable of by buyers as the “best of breed” or “point solution” market for
distributed asset support, with particular importance attached to EAM. Transmission and distribution utilities evaluate and procure
linear asset structures, remote locations of assets, short-term EAM products as maintenance modules when solving customer
work, reactive client or failure-triggered work, condition and service and physical asset care requirements.
performance monitoring, preventive maintenance, and construction
capability for network extensions. Particular emphasis is placed on EAM functionality evolved from the CMMS applications that
the planning and execution process. This is reflected in the encompass work and material management for fault repair, regular
requirements below, which will be satisfied by the software preventive maintenance and service activities, as well as from the
products in this category: work management applications that catered to reactive, short-term
• Detailed asset registry, combined with detailed parts and work planning arising from customer or failure requirements. An
support descriptions EAM solution includes work order creation, planned maintenance,
maintenance history, MRO inventory and procurement, as well as
• Support for complex inventory relationships for indirect (blue- equipment, component and asset tracking for equipment. In its
collar maintenance, repair and overhaul [MRO]) goods that are most evolved form, the functionality is extended by the addition of
associated with forecasts of planned and unplanned work on basic financial management modules, such as accounts payable,
installed assets cost recording in ledgers, and human resource management for
• Supply chain capability for indirect goods, with demand rostering and skill recording.
planning linked to maintenance and repair schedules
• Probability-based, “just in case” inventory and procurement, Technically, the EAM applications are designed to scale to larger
rather than “just in time” numbers of users (for example, beyond 100 concurrent users) and
run on multiple sites from a single central database, thereby
• Support for manufacturer logistic processes for equipment
catering to whole-of-business requirements, rather than
under warranty
departmental or site requirements. Because buyers usually evaluate
• Human capital management (HCM) capabilities to match products from multiple vendors and look for point solutions rather
location, skills, training and availability with work requirements than suites (on a ratio of 76-to-24 based on 2006 license fee
• Statistical analysis of equipment performance and reliability expenditures), the ability to sell the EAM module stand-alone is an
• Remote electronic monitoring of asset health and performance important criterion.
• Serial number tracking and tracing for equipment and parts
• Financial support via detailed cost analysis What the Market Is Not
The market does not include IT asset management, facilities
• Integration with whatever financial and human resource workplace management (integrated workplace management) and
package is deployed treasury/financial asset management, which are separate markets
• Extensive warranty tracking to component levels for software covered by Gartner elsewhere. Nor does this market
encompass the related service parts planning market, which is
4
related to EAM in that it supports the provisioning of spares for a was acquired by LogicaCMG.
repair environment. • Synergen was acquired by SPL WorldGroup and then
subsequently became part of the Oracle Utilities Global
Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria Business Unit.
Software products must address the majority of the functional
capabilities listed above. Because there are more than 400 Evaluation Criteria
vendors in the CMMS/EAM class of software and most of these
are too small in company size or product scope to be of interest to Ability to Execute
Gartner clients, we will evaluate only the top products worldwide For distribution utilities seeking EAM software, the ability to execute
that are requested by our clients. They will have a demonstrable is primarily a combination of factors driven by product functionality,
track record in transmission and distribution utilities (that is, at global strength and ability to deliver as a component solution (or
least 10% of the license revenue is from T&D utilities), have an best-of-breed, as it is sometimes known) market.
estimated license fee revenue of at least $2 million that they
generated in the past 12 months, and have coverage of multiple Completeness of Vision
geographies. For distribution utilities seeking EAM software, completeness of
vision is primarily a combination of focus on the EAM and field
This assessment focuses on the vendors providing applications service segments, an appropriate go-to-market strategy, and focus
used to manage work associated with transmission (for example, on innovation in EAM functionality.
electric transmission lines/substations and gas pipelines) and
distribution (for example, electric wires, gas pipes and water
pipes). It covers various work types, including construction Leaders
(capital), inspections, O&M and service orders. These systems Leaders in this market have a global presence, an installed base in
now encompass asset management and material management distribution utilities of all kinds, strong viability and a combination of
functionality (for example, inventory and purchasing) and frequently rich features, including functionality, interfaces to different ERP
include mobile capabilities. applications, and a capable and global implementation partner
community. IBM Maximo (Maximo/MXES formerly of MRO
We believe the products assessed in our T&D EAM Magic Software) is the leader in the component EAM space as we shift to
Quadrant are of the greatest interest to our clients; the vendors an industry-focused view. While leaders also have clients outside of
actively sell and market their products in the U.S. and at least one utilities, they remain the vendors that should be on any utility
other market. However, there may be reasons other products shortlist of EAM applications for evaluation.
would be included in an enterprise’s shortlist, including prior
usage, price or specific geographic presence. Only products that Challengers
have been implemented and are in production have been Challengers in this market show good execution, but may lack a
evaluated. focus on functional or technological innovations, which restricts
their desirability, particularly as a stand-alone application. Mincom,
the only challenger in this market, shows stronger viability because
Added
This is the first iteration of this industry-specific Magic Quadrant.
This initial delivery EAM Magic
Quadrant does differ from
previous cross-industry editions Table 1. Ability to Execute Evaluation Criteria
because it includes only those
vendors that have a focus on Evaluation Criteria Weighting
transmission and distribution
utilities. Oracle and SAP have Product/Service High
been included because they
are commonplace in utilities, Overall Viability (Business Unit, Financial, Strategy, Organization) Standard
though they are not
implemented as component
solutions. Sales Execution/Pricing Standard

Market Responsiveness and Track Record High

Dropped
Some vendors appearing on
the previous cross-industry Marketing Execution Standard
edition that served the
manufacturing sector are Customer Experience Standard
omitted, but they are included
on the appropriate Operations Standard
manufacturing service EAM
Magic Quadrant: Source: Gartner
• Severn Trent Worksuite
 5
of its acquisition, improved performance and improved delivery Vendors are classed as niche players due to one or more of several
capability for what it does, but it shows a relative lack of technical factors, including:
advancement, functional initiatives and global strategy (particularly • Narrow platform support
for Europe and North America).
• Lack of global presence
Visionaries • Inability to assess long-term viability due to nontransparent or
poor financial performance
Ventyx – formed as a result of Vista Equity Partners acquiring
• Very limited presence in the distribution utility market
Indus and MDSI, and further expanded with the acquisitions of
Global Energy Decisions and NewEnergy Associates – exhibits
classic visionary characteristics. It has a strong focus on EAM for Vendor Strengths and Cautions
utilities and increasingly broad functionality, it is suitable for all IBM Maximo
types of utilities, and it has displayed technical and functional Strengths
innovation, as well as growth through related acquisitions. Having
• Under IBM ownership, MRO Software has moved to extremely
the option of including Service Suite (firstly Wishbone but now
high viability.
MDSI) improves the solution for distribution utilities. However, even
with the acquisition by Vista Equity, the overall viability is believed • Global sales and implementation resources make the solution
to still be below competitors. Additionally, organizations must be widely available.
aware that Ventyx’s client relationships, installation track record • Combined with Tivoli software, IBM Maximo Asset
and geographic presence are sometimes below the performance Management offers the opportunity of being able to manage IT-
of industry peers. LogicaCMG has, since the acquisition of the enabled assets with the same solution used to manage
Severn Trent Worksuite product, shown fresh initiatives and begun traditional EAM assets.
progress on a path to bring it closer into line with the vision for the • High EAM investment and the leverage of IBM’s research
delivery asset management space. Executing on this vision is and capabilities are bringing advanced maintenance functionality to
will remain a challenge for this vendor, which does not specialize in market in the near future.
the software industry.
• It supports integration with a wide variety of ERP suites.
• It has native integration with ESRI GIS.
Niche Players
The Niche Players quadrant contains three classes of vendors: • It has versatility across multiple platforms.
• Those that offer best-of-breed EAM as a stand-alone
Cautions
component application (Oracle Utilities)
• Now that MRO Software is part of IBM, contracts and
• Those that offer EAM as part of a suite, but that are not
negotiations are moving to a standard IBM format, and some
designed to be used in conjunction with a different application
previously demonstrated flexibility may not be available.
suite (Oracle E-Business Suite and SAP)
• A specialized version is required for transmission and
• Those that can be delivered either as a component or as a
distribution operations.
suite (IFS)

Clients need to pay particular attention to the choice of Oracle

EAM applications. Because of its growth through acquisition,
Table 2. Completeness of Vision Evaluation Criteria
Oracle has six distinctly different offerings covering EAM. The
products targeted and sold to distribution companies are Evaluation Criteria Weighting
assessed here: Oracle E-Business Suite eAM and Oracle Utilities,
which started life as Synergen, was acquired by SPL WorldGroup Market Understanding High
and then came to Oracle. Oracle has other EAM solutions not
considered here for distribution (Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprise
Marketing Strategy Standard
[sometimes referred to as “Enterprise”], which is a module
released by PeopleSoft after its acquisition; Oracle Complex MRO
[cMRO – for aerospace], EnterpriseOne [the old JD Edwards One Sales Strategy Standard
World product], and the old JD Edwards World product). These
products are not considered in this report due to a lack of Offering (Product) Strategy High
distribution-focused functionality.
Business Model Standard
In the case of suites, the limitation of being usable (for all practical
purposes) only within the larger ERP suite, along with the client
Vertical/Industry Strategy Standard
cost associated with that strategy, lessens demand and impacts
both execution and vision. We have found that two-thirds of
implementations are of a component solution, and for the suite Innovation High
vendors, no more than one-third of their own client base uses the
“standard” EAM module. So for most clients, it is an important Geographic Strategy Standard
buying criterion. Source: Gartner
6
• Future innovation may be compromised by seeking multiple • It has strong performance in its home country of Australia,
markets. along with the U.K., Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, and
• It is one of the most expensive products on the market (but it is currently growing its presence in Russia.
with very high functionality). • There is a high level of maintenance functionality.
• There is only moderate customer satisfaction, in terms of • It is focused on asset-intensive industries like utilities.
product quality. • Recent acquisitions have broadened its offering.
• IBM is not known as a business application software company, • Versatility exists across multiple platforms.
and this is the only business application product that IBM
• It is highly scalable.
markets.
• It has improved financial performance.
IFS Cautions
Strengths
• It has a limited Asian, North American and European presence.
• It can be implemented as part of an ERP suite or as a
component EAM. • The technology is in transition to a Java-based Web service
architecture.
• Its componentized service-oriented architecture (SOA) provides
a high degree of flexibility. • The small company size compared to major vendors gives rise
to a shortage of resources and partners.
• It has an innovative and rich maintenance functionality.
However, this may impact deployment times to achieve • Its mobile applications are relatively undeveloped.
maximum functionality.
• Good customer references for satisfaction are available. Oracle E-Business Suite
Strengths
Cautions • Oracle’s E-Business Suite eAM functionality is approaching
• It only supports the Oracle Database. parity with best-of-breed applications after Release 12.
• It is not widely deployed in distribution utilities. • Good customer references are available.
• The existing customer base is weighted toward Europe, the • It has good usability.
Middle East and China. • It has strong project management functionality.
• Available resources need to be examined closely prior to • Integration is possible between company and customer assets.
project commencement. • Oracle’s eAM application should be on the shortlist in any
• There is limited global marketing and commitment to this evaluation of EAM solutions for Oracle E-Business Suite
sector. customers.

LogicaCMG Cautions
Strengths • Oracle eAM has not been integrated with other ERP solutions
• It is specialized in the distribution utility field, with good client as a component solution and is not marketed as such. For
and market understanding. non-Oracle customers looking for an EAM solution, Oracle is
not a practical candidate.
• It has ready-made integration with multiple ERP vendors.
• Only Oracle Database support is provided.
• It has a good industry fit and terminology.
• There is limited engagement from large system integrators, but
• The vision for future product is consistent with industry needs.
boutique providers exist.
Cautions • It has limited transmission and distribution experience.
• It is only available on the Oracle Database. • There is no compatible unit functionality.
• LogicaCMG performs the vast majority of its own
implementations. Oracle Utilities
Strengths
• The EAM staff is relatively small.
• Though well suited to municipalities and water utilities (which
• A combination of multiple products with different designs forms
are often smaller in scale than power utilities), the system is
the solution.
scalable to larger environments.
• There are limited North American and Asia/Pacific resources.
• It is focused on field service and distribution utility needs.
• There are few clients overall.
• It has lower cost and complexity.
• It is a relatively expensive solution.
• Open integration with multiple ERP suites is possible.

Mincom Cautions
Strengths
• Being acquired first by SPL WorldGroup and then by Oracle
• It has flexible deployment as a component or a suite. has resulted in product overlap within the Oracle E-Business
 7
Suite.
Vendors Added or Dropped
• It is available only on the Oracle Database.
We review and adjust our inclusion criteria for Magic
• It has limited functionality for complex environments. Quadrants and MarketScopes as markets change. As a
result of these adjustments, the mix of vendors in any Magic
SAP Quadrant or MarketScope may change over time. A vendor
Strengths appearing in a Magic Quadrant or MarketScope one year and
• It has the majority of the EAM functionality that most utilities not the next does not necessarily indicate that we have
would require. changed our opinion of that vendor. This may be a reflection
of a change in the market and, therefore, changed evaluation
• It recently added true Compatible Unit functionality. criteria, or a change of focus by a vendor.
• It has a well-developed partner program to fill functional gaps.
• When integrated with the SAP ERP suite (now referred to as
ERP 6.0), the combined solution provides a single view into all
aspects of work and asset management – from HR to material
management. performance concerns. While MAM/MAU is incompatible with
SAP CRM mobility, this is being addressed as it undergoes
• There is the potential to leverage SAP supply chain technology change toward 2010.
management (SCM) for material planning.
• The program of Enhancement Packages (currently at No. 2) will
Ventyx
provide progressive functional improvements.
Strengths
• There have been recent improvements in warranty
• It is a focused utility specialist with the terminology and
management, clearance control and configuration management
functionality to suit the industry.
derived from other industry solutions.
• It has a long history of industry involvement and focus.
• Versatility exists across multiple platforms.
• It has a vision for expanding the solution set through
• The IS-U package extension provides further utility-specific
complementary acquisitions, particularly in field service.
functionality.
• It recently re-architected the product to modernize the
• SAP EAM should be on the evaluation list of any SAP ERP
application.
customer.
Cautions
Cautions
• The current product (Asset Suite) is less established than the
• SAP’s EAM application, while theoretically capable of being
prior product (Passport), so it does not have the same track
implemented as a stand-alone component, requires extensive
record in customer sites.
implementation of other components of SAP’s suite solution.
As such, for all practical purposes, it is always marketed, sold • Asset Suite is a combination of older technologies from Empac
and implemented in conjunction with a full SAP ERP and Passport.
deployment. • Customer satisfaction varies from poor to good, depending on
• SAP EAM has not been integrated with other ERP solutions as the software version and the support experience.
a component solution, and it is not marketed as such. For non- • Limited resources are available in Asia/Pacific.
SAP customers looking for an EAM solution, SAP is not a • There have been slow sales in the marketplace, with few new
practical candidate. accounts.
• Future (broadly defined) enhancements are expected to • Viability and performance are still in question, albeit supported
alleviate the problem of conflict with the IS-U option, but with by private equity now.
no further future release (other than enhancement packs)
announced, the resolution remains ill-defined.
• Some functionality like improved user interface or visual parts
selection is available only as an xApp, which requires additional
investment and NetWeaver to get maximum benefit.
• Compatible Units have only very recently been made available
in the standard product.
• Recent improvements to the Mobile solution based on NW 7.1
(to be available early 2008) are intended to address reported
8
Evaluation Criteria Definitions

Ability to Execute
Product/Service: Core goods and services offered by the vendor that compete in/serve the defined market. This includes current
product/service capabilities, quality, feature sets and skills, whether offered natively or through OEM agreements/partnerships as
defined in the market definition and detailed in the subcriteria.

Overall Viability (Business Unit, Financial, Strategy, Organization): Viability includes an assessment of the overall organization’s
financial health, the financial and practical success of the business unit, and the likelihood of the individual business unit to continue
investing in the product, to continue offering the product and to advance the state of the art within the organization’s portfolio of
products.

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

Market Responsiveness and Track 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 ven-
dor’s history of responsiveness.

Marketing Execution: The clarity, quality, creativity and efficacy of programs designed to deliver the organization’s message in order
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, pro-
motional, thought leadership, word-of-mouth and sales activities.

Customer Experience: Relationships, products and services/programs that enable clients to be successful with the products evalu-
ated. 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 and service-level agreements.

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 serv-
ices. Vendors that show the highest degree of vision listen 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 external-
ized through the Web site, advertising, customer programs and positioning statements.

Sales Strategy: The strategy for selling product 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 cus-
tomer base.

Offering (Product) Strategy: The vendor’s approach to product development and delivery that emphasizes differentiation, function-
ality, methodology and feature set 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 verticals.

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 out-
side the “home” or native geography, either directly or through partners, channels and subsidiaries as appropriate for that geography
and market.