What’s replacing the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for ITSM?

It’s that time of year again where everyone waits around VERY impatiently for the 2023 “Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for ITSM Platforms” to arrive. The wait is long. The demand is real. WHERE IS IT, GARTNER®?! 

Well, I have quite the news to share with you today... 

There will be no Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for ITSM.  

It’s GONE. Done. Retired. Dead. 

Really?! Is this the end of ITSM? Has the market dried up? Is the demand shriveling? 

I’m here to assure you, everything’s okay.

As a prior Gartner® Analyst, I’ve co-authored the ITSM MQ in past years. And even though Gartner® is only going to publish the official-sounding corporate blurbs, I’m here to explain what has actually happened.  

Is the ITSM Market Dying? 

Quite the opposite: the ITSM market is VERY healthy and continues to grow and evolve. 

“The IT service management (ITSM) tool category held 78% share of the total [ITOM] market at $7.1 billion in 2022, with a growth rate of 16.8% year over year (YoY).”  
- Gartner®, June 2023 (source).  

Digital business is just normal business now. For context, the MQ isn’t the only thing Gartner® retired— they also retired ITIL from the Hype Cycle, and are in the process of replacing “digital business” with the next thing. The pace of change continues to put increasing pressure on I&O.  

In fact, ITSM has not gotten easier or more boring— it’s thriving.  

A quick refresher on what the Magic Quadrant™ is... 

The trademarked Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ is a popular research methodology that includes a graphical representation of specific markets—the direction it’s headed, its maturity, and key vendors in the space. The intention behind the publication is to help companies make the most informed, educated choice they can on the technology solutions they need. Companies are evaluated on their completeness of vision (i.e., strategic direction, product offerings, and marketing) and their ability to execute on said visions and promises. Based on the above evaluations, Gartner® then categorizes vendors into one of four quadrants, Leaders (strong ability to execute), Challengers (less compete vision, but strong ability to execute), Visionaries (face challenges in executing their strong vision), and Niche Players (target specific segments of the market).  

OK, so ITSM is alive and kicking. How does EasyVista know the Magic Quadrant™  is not coming? 

It’s published information. Gartner® quietly announced it within their 2023 ITSM Hype Cycle publication, which was released in July of 2023. Excerpt here: 

“The ITSM platforms Magic Quadrant and Critical Capabilities research has been retired for 2023, and an ITSM platforms Market Guide will instead be published by the end of 2023.”  
- Gartner®, July 2023 (source) 

Why is Gartner® retiring the ITSM MQ? 

Here’s what they’ve said so far:  

“ITSM platforms and cloud management platforms have reached the end of the ITSM Hype Cycle, suggesting the markets for them have fully matured.”  
- Gartner®, July 2023 (source) 

In layman’s terms: We know who’s good at ITSM— Gartner® has been naming the same vendors for years (👀 EasyVista has been featured every year for the past 11 years). 
 
But here’s the real context: Gartner® has some sophisticated publishing rules that they use to protect the brand around the coveted Magic Quadrant™, and they also want to see enough market movement to justify the expense it takes to deliver a Magic Quadrant™ – it’s a heck of a research project, after all.  

For Gartner® to invest in a Magic Quadrant™, the market has to fit in a sweet spot: not too new (so it has worthwhile readership volume), but not too mature (so there’s regular market movement that needs annual reassessment). 

ITSM is definitely evolving and changing year-over-year! But the market competitors in the market? It’s (roughly speaking) the same – Atlassian, EasyVista, Freshworks, Ivanti, ServiceNow...  

ITSM has matured. We’ve all been recognized as top global players in the ITSM market for years, and Gartner® knows that’s not going to change. Because of that, they decided they don’t need to invest in reassessing it every year. Makes sense. 

Without a Magic Quadrant™, how will people evaluate and select ITSM tools now?  

Gartner® will still be covering the ITSM market! They are just replacing the Magic Quadrant™ with another format of market publication that’s less costly to produce, the Gartner® “Market Guide.” 

Since the whole reason for retiring the Magic Quadrant™️ (check out how we compared last year, in 2022) is the vendors have been sticking around, you can make a pretty good guess what names you might see in a new Magic Quadrant™ for the ITSM market (expected to be published in Q4 2023). Even without the Magic Quadrant™, Gartner® will continue to keep up with who is doing what, how we’re differentiating, and what you need to know as a buyer. If there’s one thing I can assure you of as a previous Analyst, Gartner® cares about giving you high-quality information for you to make the best choice possible about the ITSM tools and services you choose to invest in. 

If you have any additional questions, Gartner® has a great analyst team that is available for inquiry to support your purchase decisions. 

Final note 

1. Gartner® is still here, the format is just changing. If you have any questions and you’re a Gartner® subscriber, I highly recommend putting an inquiry in the books with your favorite Gartner® Analyst. 
2. EasyVista is still here, kicking butt, and taking names! We’ve got plenty more exciting news to come. And if you haven’t already, you can always request a demo to see how we can empower your IT.