Gartner is a globally influential research and advisory company whose Magic Quadrant reports are a leading industry benchmark for evaluating technology solutions, including application performance monitoring (APM) and observability platforms. Gartner judges its Magic Quadrant for APM and observability using a structured methodology based on vendors’ ability to execute and completeness of vision, with its criteria and market definitions evolving as the tools and industry mature. Below is a detailed, sectioned explanation with references.
Gartner, Inc. is a research and advisory firm founded in 1979 that specializes in business and technology topics, supporting thousands of clients globally through research reports, conferences, and consulting. Its mission is to provide data-driven insights to guide organizations in strategic technology decisions. Gartner is recognized for tools like the Magic Quadrant and Hype Cycle, which analyze markets and the maturity of emerging technologies.
The Gartner Magic Quadrant is a visual research tool that positions technology vendors in four quadrants – Leaders, Challengers, Visionaries, and Niche Players – according to their ability to execute and completeness of vision. For the Application Performance Monitoring and Observability category, Gartner evaluates vendors based on these detailed criteria:
Ability to execute: Product or service quality, overall viability, sales execution, marketing effectiveness, customer experience, operations, and responsiveness to market needs.
Completeness of vision: Innovation, market understanding, business model, vertical and geographic strategies, and product roadmap.
Specific requirements for APM and observability include automated discovery and mapping, versatile monitoring across mobile, browser, and cloud environments, identification of performance issues, transactional analysis, cloud integration, business activity monitoring, security features, endpoint monitoring, telemetry ingestion, AIOps capabilities, and DevOps toolchain integration.
Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Application Performance Management has evolved significantly over the years. Originally focused on traditional application monitoring, it now encompasses modern observability platforms that ingest and analyze logs, metrics, traces, and events across cloud-native and hybrid environments. Trends influencing its criteria and scope include:
Expansion of coverage: From monitoring legacy applications to supporting complex, distributed cloud-native workloads and services using SaaS and hybrid models.
Integration of observability: Incorporating broader observability concepts beyond just APM, such as digital experience monitoring and unified data platforms.
Increasing emphasis on automation and advanced analytics: Rising focus on integrated automation, machine learning–driven anomaly detection (AIOps), and the ability to provide actionable recommendations for performance improvements.
Market and vendor dynamics: The vendor landscape has changed with new entrants and acquisitions, and the criteria have updated to emphasize openness, scalability, and interoperability with DevOps toolchains.
Gartner continues to refine its evaluation methodology as new technologies and user needs emerge, responding to changes in digital transformation, cloud adoption, and observability platforms.
Our AI capabilities are drawn from our homegrown, proprietary AI solution, Zia. These built-in AI capabilities help us provide intelligent and proactive insights, optimize performance, and deliver personalized experiences to our users.
Go from fragmented data to full-stack insight. We offer a full-stack observability solution that provides application performance monitoring, infrastructure monitoring, and digital experience monitoring from a single console.
The products are easy to set up and use. Just download and install the product, run the automated discovery, and start monitoring. It's that simple.
The price we quote is the price you pay. We follow an affordable and transparent licensing model with no hidden costs. This enables you to scale up without surprise fees.
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Gartner disclaimer: The report title was changed from Magic Quadrant for Application Performance Monitoring to Magic Quadrant for Application Performance Monitoring Suites in 2015 and back to Magic Quadrant for Application Performance Monitoring in 2019. Further, the report was renamed as Magic Quadrant for Application Performance Monitoring and Observability in 2022.
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.
Gartner Peer Insights content consists of the opinions of individual end users based on their own experiences, and should not be construed as statements of fact, nor do they represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
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It allows us to track crucial metrics such as response times, resource utilization, error rates, and transaction performance. The real-time monitoring alerts promptly notify us of any issues or anomalies, enabling us to take immediate action.
Reviewer Role: Research and Development
Tech Support Manager, Lexmark
Virtualization Monitoring