2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant for PPM Software Tools Review

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The Gartner Magic Quadrant is the reference in our industry for comparing and choosing the best Cloud-based IT Services and Application Project and Portfolio Management software tools.

In the last years traditional Aplication project management software tools have moved to the Cloud. Cloud-based PPM tools provide a more flexible and fast evolving method for adapting to the continuing change of business needs. In this article we cover as an overview of two Garnet Magic Quadrants: the Cloud-Based IT PPM Services, and the Aplication based PPM Software Applications.

Magic Quadrant for Cloud-Based IT Project and Portfolio Management Services

The worldwide 2015 Magic Quadrant for Cloud-Based IT Project and Portfolio Management Services includes 5 Leaders (Innotas, Workfrom, Clarizen, and Changepoing), 4 Visionaries (One2Team, ProjectObjects, onepoint Projects, and Upland Software), and a Niche Players (VCSonline).

Changepoint Daptiv

Daptiv is the Changepoint’s company cloud-based IT PPM project management software.

The 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant has highlighted from Changepoint Daptiv the following benefits:

• As it has been acquired by parent company, Changepoint, Daptiv is now part of a larger and well-funded enterprise.
• Daptiv is well-suited for both the needs of formalized project management work streams as well as some of the emergent work streams often found in internal IT.
• A choice of European and North American data centers are available to prospective customers.

Clarizen

Clarizen is Clarizen’s company cloud-based IT PPM project management software.

The 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant has highlighted from Changepoint Daptiv the following benefits:

• Clarizen is a flexible, configurable product supporting the needs of emergent work streams and some formalized project management work streams often found in internal IT.
• The collaboration emphasis often brings clients in who then find they can get the benefit of other PPM capabilities as they mature.
• Clarizen is a significantly lower-cost option in this portion of the market, compared to other providers.

Innotas

Innotas is Innotas’ company cloud-based IT PPM project management software.

The 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant has highlighted from Changepoint Daptiv the following benefits:

• Innotas’ Predictive Portfolio Analytics capability provides strong decision-making support and analytics capabilities designed to aid IT PMOs with prioritization based on value metrics.
• Innotas includes a graphical workflow modeling tool allowing users to build their own process and project workflows.
• Innotas is increasingly providing integration services and supporting SLAs for the integrations it deploys for its customers, especially integration involving Atlassian Jira and Microsoft Team Foundation Server (TFS).

One2Team

One2Team is One2Team’s cloud-based IT PPM company cloud-based IT PPM project management software.

The 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant has highlighted from One2Team the following benefits:

• One2Team has a strong emphasis in team-based collaboration, and provides a number of facilities supporting it, including “Slideboards” and social networking features, as well as the ability to manage roadmaps, functional deliverables, user stories and sprints.
• As part of its strategy to expand its global reach and provide the ability to deploy cloud-based services from North America, One2Team established a U.S.-based infrastructure last year.
• One2Team’s “Slideboards” functionality includes the ability to embed documents and add objects in real-time to “Slideboards.”

onepoint Projects

Onepoint Projects is onepoint Projects’ company cloud-based IT PPM project management software.

The 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant has highlighted from onepoint Projects the following benefits:

• Onepoint Projects’ complete revision from Java to HTML5 greatly improved the product’s capabilities and overall user experience.
• Aside from its cloud-based service, onepoint Projects is also offered as an on-premises deployment for clients with stringent security requirements.
• Clients like onepoint Projects’ strong bidirectional integration with Jira.

Project Objects

Project Objects is Project Objects’ company cloud-based IT PPM project management software.

The 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant has highlighted from Project Objects the following benefits:

• Project Objects’ biggest strength is in top-down portfolio decision-making functionality. Users can set up metrics to measure programs and projects, define business drivers with set values or a range of possible values, apply weightings during the scoring process, conduct prioritization and ranking, and model any created portfolios.
• Project Objects allows users to set and edit portfolio constraints, run an optimizing engine against the constraints, and identify the projects that can be executed in the context of the portfolio defined by the constraints and based on the priority.
• Project Objects supports strategy management and allows for strategic budget planning, allowing users to create a strategy budget model.

Upland Software PowerSteering and EPM Live

PowerSteering and EPM Live are Upland Software’s company cloud-based IT PPM project management software.

The 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant has highlighted from Upland Software’s products the following benefits:

• Upland Software can support portfolio-level IT PPM needs with its PowerSteering product and execution-level IT PPM needs with its EPM Live product.
• For IT project environments heavily using SharePoint, EPM Live provides all of its functionality on a SharePoint platform, and familiarity among end users with SharePoint can aid in configuration and adoption of EPM Live.
• Upland Software’s implementation consulting and onboarding support specifically for the PowerSteering product drives fast implementation times for customers, allowing them to quickly set up portfolios and top-down views of their projects.

VCSonline VPMi

VPMi is VCSonline’s company cloud-based IT PPM project management software.

The 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant has highlighted from VCSonline VPMi the following benefits:

• VCSonline’s pricing model is very cost-effective, allowing users to pay month-to-month and not forcing them to commit to a 12-month contract common to other providers in this market.
• Many improvement have been made to navigation and user experience, including a heavy infusion of HTML5, bringing the overall product up-to-date and improving overall use and performance.
• VPMi is a flexible, configurable product supporting the needs of emergent work streams and some formalized project management work streams often found in internal IT.

Workfront

 Workfront is Workfront’s company cloud-based IT PPM project management software.

The 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant has highlighted from Workfront the following benefits:

• Workfront is a flexible, configurable product supporting the needs of emergent work streams and formalized project management work streams often found in internal IT.
• Workfront is growing some of its larger accounts, many of which involve general purpose PPM and other work management scenarios.
• The latest release adds a number of usability enhancements, including improvements to intelligent request queues, the proofing viewer, document approvals, calendar view and natural language time stamps.

Gartner Magic Quadrant for IT Project and Portfolio Management Software Applications

The worldwide 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant for IT Project and Portfolio Management Software Applications includes 2 Leaders (Planview, and CA Technologies), 6 Challengers (Microsoft, Changepoint, Sciforma, Planisware, SAP, and HP), and 2 Niche Players (Genius Inside, and Project.net). 

CA PPM

CA PPM is CA Technologies’ company IT PPM project management software.

The 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant has highlighted from CA PPM the following benefits:

• Improvements to its business intelligence platform, including the use of Jaspersoft, provides enhanced self-service reporting that is designed for ease of use, without requiring a separate login, as well as the ability to export to other formats such as PDF or PNG images often used in executive presentations.
• CA Technologies is increasing its emphasis on CA PPM’s ability to support agile methods, including gold-level partnership with SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework), and direct integration with VersionOne.
• CA Technologies is beginning to augment CA PPM with complementary, cloud-based applications designed to extend the overall capabilities of CA PPM. Some of these applications include CA Executive Playbook and the newly redesigned CA Agile Planning.

Changepoint

Changepoint is Changepoint’s company IT PPM project management software.

The 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant has highlighted from Changepoint the following benefits:

• The latest release has an improved and more flexible user interface, allowing the definition of appropriate forms and workflows.
• Inherent professional service administration features provided in Changepoint accommodate IT PPM configurations where chargeback or strong project accounting is desired.
• Customers cite the traceability and auditing of projects, as well as a robust core of IT PPM functionality and system stability, as key strengths of the product.

Genius Project

Genius Project is Genius Inside’s company IT PPM project management software.

The 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant has highlighted from Genius Project the following benefits:

• Genius Inside added two new data centers, via IBM SoftLayer, allowing prospective customers interested in a cloud-hosted option more location choices for their instance, and it complies with FedRAMP.
• Genius Project provides a good number of useful out-of-the-box (OOTB) reports, allowing users to share with upper management, in real-time, the progress and budgets of all projects included in created dashboards.
• Users consistently cite the product’s ease of use and technical support services as key strengths.

HP PPM

HP PPM is HP’s company IT PPM project management software.

The 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant has highlighted from HP PPM the following benefits:

• The 9.30 release of HP PPM is the largest release of HP PPM in the past four years, and represents several improvements to user experience, to financial management, and to resource management, as well as to integration with third-party systems.
• HP is beginning to augment HP PPM with complementary, cloud-based applications (provided on a newer, separate cloud platform) to extend the usefulness of HP PPM. For example, HP released a cloud-based application for Idea and Proposal Management in March of this year.
• The flexibility of HP PPM is a strength in that it can match a customer’s process definition and automation needs, and also provides graphical workflow modeling that accentuates the product’s flexibility and configurability.

Microsoft Project Server

Microsoft Project Server is Microsoft’s company IT PPM project management software.

The 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant has highlighted from Microsoft Project Server the following benefits:

• Microsoft Project Server provides the strongest level of integration between itself and desktop versions of Microsoft Project Professional in the market.
• When applying an approach to implementation that does not involve a lot of customization, Microsoft Project Server can provide a cost-effective solution for workgroups interested in automating their execution-level project processes and activities.
• To support connection between Microsoft Project Server and development teams, the product’s integration with Team Foundation Server allows TFS users to update effort estimates in TFS using Visual Studio or Team Explorer, while project managers in Project Server can receive these updates through Project Server and update and repost the project plan as needed.

Planisware

Planisware is Planisware’s company IT PPM project management software.

The 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant has highlighted from Planisware the following benefits:

• Planisware’s product has a significant amount of depth and breadth in PPM capabilities, given its longevity in adjacent PPM markets, such as new product development PPM.
• Recent improvements to the product include an e-learning module, featuring user training documentation and video tutorials.
• A new, agile module captures high-level requirements, user stories, sprints, tasks and Kanban workflows, and includes a number of reports, such as productivity and burn-down charts.

Planview Enterprise

Planview Enterprise is Planview’s company IT PPM project management software.

The 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant has highlighted from Planview Enterprise the following benefits:

• Planview continues to demonstrate an effective focus on IT PPM and meeting the needs of the market.
• Comprehensive analytics, reporting, strong resource and portfolio management capabilities can support the needs of mature IT project management offices (PMOs) and project organizations.
• A consistent user interface and the product’s “ribbon” and “tiles” technology make it easier for users to see portfolio-level information at a glance and drill into details as needed.

Project.net

Project.net is Project.net’s company IT PPM project management software.

The 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant has highlighted from Project.net the following benefits:

• Project.net’s freeware option is one of the lowest-cost ways to obtain IT PPM functionality.
• The stability of the product and its performance are consistent, and its reliability is a strength.
• Project.net is designed to meet many core IT PPM needs, specifically in formal project and resource management.

SAP Portfolio and Project Management

SAP Portfolio and Project Management is SAP’s company IT PPM project management software.

The 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant has highlighted from SAP Portfolio and Project Management the following benefits:

• For companies already heavily using SAP products, SAP Portfolio and Project Management can be an attractive option, because it can be implemented as a stand-alone product in an SAP environment, and leverage inherent integration with other SAP applications and data essential to effective project management and reporting, such as employee data and financial and budget information.
• SAP Portfolio and Project Management is now also a part of SAP Solution Manager, giving SAP administrators a good IT PPM tool for managing projects and other activities pertaining to a deployed SAP ERP solution.
• SAP Portfolio and Project Management is flexible in terms of configuration and customization, as it is more Web-based and a separate product from other SAP products. The SAP Fiori user interface is an alternative HTML5 interface that can help with user adoption, especially for the casual user.

Sciforma

Sciforma is Sciforma’s company IT PPM project management software.

The 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant has highlighted from Sciforma the following benefits:

• Extensions, such as Sciforma’s Agile Extension, are useful when adding specific contextual capabilities, reports, workflows and views to the product. Sciforma offers Extensions for agile, PPM and project management.
• Complete rewriting of Sciforma’s client application in HTML5 has greatly enhanced the product’s overall usability, navigation and user experience.
• In the process of its conversion to HTML5, Sciforma optimized its product release cycles and now provides a new code release once every three months.

How to get into Gartner Magic Quadrant?

The inclusion criteria for being eligible to be included in the Gartner Magic Quadrant is the following:

• The product must be an IT PPM product supporting internal IT PPM.
• The product must be generally available and actively marketed for the past four consecutive years, without any significant company, product or service disruptions. PPM providers that have “restarted” or “resurrected” older IT PPM companies or product lines/platforms are not included.
• Providers must have acquired at least 10 new IT PPM customers (not repeat business) on average, per year, between 2009 and 2014.
• Providers must have $10 million in annual revenue or significant financial backing.
• Specific for Magic Quadrant for Cloud-Based IT Project and Portfolio Management Services:
  • Product deployment is significantly of cloud-native and cloud-optimized application services.
  • As a standard way of doing business, the provider must offer short-term contracts that are usually no longer than 12 months in length. Allowances are made for multiyear agreements where applicable.
  • Average deployment times must be between two weeks and 30 days.
  • These providers can support very small numbers of end users (for example, less than 30 users), but can also scale up to support some cases involving hundreds or thousands of users.
  • A significant percentage of the provider’s installed base is typically on short-term, 12-month subscriptions, involving a multitenant environment. PPM functionality is deployed as cloud-native or cloud-optimized application services.
• Specific for Gartner Magic Quadrant for IT Project and Portfolio Management Software Applications:
  • Strong history in doing IT PPM product in the market.
  • Product deployment modes are on-premises or cloud-hosted.
  • The product is deployed as a “dedicated instance” for each customer.
  • Providers must be able to prove they have secured at least 10 new IT PPM customers (not repeat business or renewals) in the past 12 months.
  • The provider’s main business model is that of offering long-term contracts of three or more years on a consistent basis. Twelve-month contracts are rarely offered, or, in many cases, do not usually make business sense to the vendors providing these solutions.
  • Providers do not typically support prospects requiring less than 30 licenses per implementation, unless they are midsize vendors participating in this market. Larger providers typically require a set minimum number of end users per customer.
  • Deployment times average three to 12 months for complete implementations.
  • Most of the existing provider’s IT PPM installed base are on dedicated instances and multiyear contracts.

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