Gartner Magic Quadrant for SAM Managed Services 2023 - Who’s up, down and side-to-side?

ITAM News & Analysis

Gartner Magic Quadrant for SAM Managed Services 2023 - Who’s up, down and side-to-side?

Gartner has published the 2023 edition of the Gartner Magic Quadrant™ for Software Asset Management (SAM) Managed Services. The authors for the 2023 report are Steven White, Yoann Bianic, and Rob Schafer.

There are twelve companies represented in the Magic Quadrant this year, up from eleven last year.

Due to Gartner’s copyright policies, we are unable to share the report with you directly. However, if you are a Gartner subscriber you can download it here. You can also access it from the following vendors (registration required):

• Anglepoint
• Livingstone Group
• Crayon
• SoftwareOne

Read on for a summary of the main developments since 2022 – who’s moved, who’s new, and who’s out?

Four leaders in SAM Managed Services 2023

There are four Leaders in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for SAM Managed Services 2023. They are:

• Anglepoint
• Livingstone Group
• Crayon
• SoftwareOne

This is up from three the previous year due to Crayon returning to the Leaders quadrant after a brief stint in Visionaries last year (Crayon held the Leaders position previously in 2020 and 2021).

Moving on up

Last year there were four companies in the “Visionaries” sector – Softline Group, Insight, Crayon and Bytes. Unlike previous years, there are no “Visionaries” in the Software Asset Management Managed Services sector at all. This is because all, bar one, have moved on up.

As already noted, Crayon has moved back up to its previous position in the Leaders Quadrant, while Noventiq* and Insight have both moved from “Visionary” to “Challenger”. Deloitte and KPMG have remained in the Challengers Quadrant which they both moved into in 2022.

* NB: Noventiq acquired Softline in 2021, so Noventiq was listed under the name Softline Group in previous Quadrants.

DXC Technology is a new entrant in 2023

The Fortune 500 US technology firm DXC Technology has entered the Gartner Magic Quadrant for SAM Managed Services for the first time in 2023, coming out of the starting blocks in the Niche Players quadrant. One to watch going forward.

Bytes is down

Bytes has moved down from the Visionary Quadrant in 2022 to the Niche Players Quadrant in 2023.

In the report, Gartner stated that “Bytes is a Niche Player in this Magic Quadrant… Bytes is a good fit for small and midsize clients looking for a provider that is contractually flexible and engages on a continuous and scheduled basis. Prospective clients should review their requirements for SAM to ensure Bytes will be able to meet their needs.”

Under Strengths, Gartner specifically highlighted Bytes’ investments in cloud consumption management; “Bytes has invested in its umbrella FinOps and SaaS management offering, Quantum, focusing on Microsoft environments (Azure and M365).”

Given the interest we are seeing in this area, we can see this being a strong growth area for Bytes over the coming years.

Highlights

Anglepoint and SoftwareOne are recognized as leaders for the fourth year running

Livingstone spends its third year in the Leaders Quadrant

Both Deloitte and KPMG have raised their positions within the Challengers Quadrant as they improve on their ability to execute

Anglepoint’s involvement in the SAM ISO Standards Working Group 21 and FinOps Foundation, as well as its “open approach to its influence to the industry” were specifically referenced among its strengths and reasons for Leadership position

Gartner calls out the growth opportunity in FinOps

According to the Gartner report: “Through 2026, organizations that deploy a cloud financial operations discipline (FinOps) will generate 30% more savings on their cloud infrastructure and platform services (CIPS) costs than those who did not.”

A long held statistic is that approx. 30% of cloud spend is wasted so, by focusing on reducing that, something approaching a 30% saving seems logical. That said, nothing is perfect so it may be that 30% is an overly optimistic target.

Furthermore, it must be noted that cost savings is not really the primary aim of FinOps. Rather it concerns itself more with “spend efficiency” i.e. making sure that what you’re spending is being properly utilized. While this does result in reducing wasted spend, it does not necessarily result in overall spend decreasing. With many organisations turning to cloud services to help them launch new products and win new customers, an ever increasing cloud bill is often a sign of success…as long as that spend is efficient with minimal waste.

SAM managed services combine a series of life cycle change management and optimization activities. They transform existing practices to deliver transparency and optimization for software, support, maintenance, SaaS and cloud spend. A combination of FinOps and ITAM takes a central role within those services to manage cloud spend and portability of licenses.

Commentary from the Leaders

Anglepoint CEO, Brian Papay commented, “Anglepoint is honoured to be recognised for a fourth time as a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for SAM Managed Services. Thank you to our amazing clients for their continued trust and to our team for their relentless pursuit of excellence.”

Anglepoint’s President and Chairman, Ron Brill, continued, “Our clients include some of the largest and most complex organizations in the world, and they entrust Anglepoint each day to deliver measurable impact to their bottom line. What makes Anglepoint different?  Unparalleled thought leadership and unwavering execution, all delivered by the best SAM professionals on the planet.”

In its own announcement, Livingstone commented, “We believe this recognition acknowledges the skills and expertise across our entire business, and our continued investment into our technology. Livingstone will continue to strive to be the best in class, globally for all our clients and partners.”

Melissa Mulholland, Crayon CEO, had this to say about their return to the Leaders Quadrant, “We believe this incredible acknowledgment demonstrates our team’s deep knowledge and expertise in providing Software Asset Management services. We’ve gained this expertise through our customer-first focus for more than 20 years which has shaped our industry-leading practice to help all companies, regardless of size, industry, or complexity.”

Bernd Schlotter, President of Services, SoftwareOne said: “Gartner remains a trusted advisor for many organisations undergoing the due diligence of selecting a partner to manage their software and cloud estates. When these organizations research who they should partner with on their ITAM and Cloud journeys, we believe SoftwareOne will be an Ideal choice amongst its peers.”

ITAM Review analysis by Rich Gibbons

It’s no surprise to see FinOps expertise be a key success factor in this year’s report. Here at the ITAM Review we’ve been highlighting the synergy between, and likely future convergence of, ITAM and FinOps since 2019 and believe interweaving the two disciplines is critical to IT Asset Management and Cloud Cost Management. A benefit of working with third-party providers such as those featured in the Gartner Magic Quadrant is that they can enable you to start with new strategies more quickly than if you were to skill-up your internal team and/or hire new FTEs. FinOps is very much at the top of the list of “things that are next but we need to start now” for many organisations…although it may be displaced by Artificial Intelligence in 2024 or 2025.

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