Decision Matrix: Selecting an IT Systems Management Vendor (Competitor Focus)

Introduction

This report provides a summary of IT systems management vendors' capabilities based on a quantitative assessment of their market impact and end user sentiment, as well as the technology features that they offer. Ovum also provides guidance for enterprises looking to deploy IT systems management solutions.

Scope

*Provides an overview of the most important trends affecting the IT systems management market and influencing its competitive dynamics.

*Delivers an overall comparison of IT systems management vendors in terms of their technology, user sentiment and market impact.

*Presents a detailed view of each vendor's IT systems management offering and capabilities, as well as advice on their suitability for enterprises.

*The report covers the following IT systems management vendors: BMC, CA, EMC, Fujitsu, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Novell and Symantec.

Highlights

Realizing the value from an IT systems management deployment is critically dependent upon the vendor's ability to execute the organization's overall information management, security and risk and compliance strategies. As such, a decision to purchase one solution over another should be based on a broad array of factors.

The decision matrix clearly shows that the market is still dominated by the established vendors known as the 'Big Four', namely BMC, CA, HP and IBM. All of these vendors have a marked technology advantage over their challengers and while the gap between them and vendors like EMC and Microsoft has narrowed somewhat, their lead remains significant.

Of the 'Shortlist' vendors, HP has the most noteworthy performance overall. HP has the top technology and market impact scores, and also outperforms its closest competitors in terms of end-user sentiment. The vendor has also successfully translated its competitive advantage into customer wins and revenue growth.

Reasons to Purchase

*Gain detailed knowledge of IT systems management vendors' strengths with regards to technology, user sentiment and market impact.

*IT systems management vendors can benchmark their own performance against that of their competitors according to various key metrics.

*Enterprise IT managers will gain valuable insight to improve their IT systems management purchasing decisions.


Report Highlights
Realizing the value from an IT systems management deployment is critically dependent upon the vendor's ability to execute the organization's overall information management, security and risk and compliance strategies. As such, a decision to purchase one solution over another should be based on a broad array of factors.

The decision matrix clearly shows that the market is still dominated by the established vendors known as the 'Big Four', namely BMC, CA, HP and IBM. All of these vendors have a marked technology advantage over their challengers and while the gap between them and vendors like EMC and Microsoft has narrowed somewhat, their lead remains significant.

Of the 'Shortlist' vendors, HP has the most noteworthy performance overall. HP has the top technology and market impact scores, and also outperforms its closest competitors in terms of end-user sentiment. The vendor has also successfully translated its competitive advantage into customer wins and revenue growth.
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OVUM VIEW 1
CATALYST 1
SUMMARY 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS 2
TABLE OF FIGURES 3
MARKET DEVELOPMENTS 4
Organizational and technical developments are driving the growth of the systems management market 4
Systems management technology is a key component of efficient enterprise IT 4
Systems management is still primarily deployed by large enterprises 5
Green IT directly and indirectly stimulates the uptake of systems management 5
The optimal use of cloud computing requires an investment in systems management 6
Demand for virtualization management has followed the growth of virtualization 6
THE IT SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT DECISION MATRIX 7
The 'Big Four' dominate the systems management market, with HP gaining a slight lead 9
CA has significantly improved its end-user perceptions, but it still lags behind its competitors 9
Microsoft has made significant advances in its technology and is gradually closing in on the leaders 9
EMC has finally brought a coherent vision to the market with the release of Ionix 10
MARKET LEADERS 11
Market leaders: Technology 11
HP has gained an edge over the other 'Big Four' vendors 11
Surprisingly, Microsoft is the market leader in terms of virtualization and cloud management 12
Novell has some best-of-breed technologies, but lacks the necessary breadth 12
Market leaders: User Sentiment 13
EMC has impressed end-users with its product quality, client engagement and support 13
HP has good overall end-user sentiment but it needs to improve its client engagement and service levels 14
Market leaders: Impact 14
HP also leads in terms of its market impact ratings, with CA taking second place 14
HP has significantly outperformed the market in terms of revenue growth 15
VENDOR ANALYSIS 16
BMC: IT Systems Management Radar 16
Recommendation: Shortlist 17
CA: IT Systems Management Radar 18
Recommendation: Shortlist 19
EMC: IT Systems Management Radar 20
Recommendation: Consider 21
Fujitsu: IT Systems Management Radar 22
Recommendation: Explore 23
IBM: IT Systems Management Radar 24
Recommendation: Shortlist 25
HP: IT Systems Management Radar 26
Recommendation: Shortlist 27
Microsoft: IT Systems Management Radar 28
Recommendation: Consider 29
Novell: IT Systems Management Radar 30
Recommendation: Explore 31
Symantec: IT Systems Management Radar 32
Recommendation: Explore 33
In summary, technology changes are leading to more efficient, controlled and automated IT 33
APPENDIX 34
Definitions 34
Ovum ratings 34
Extended methodology 35
Technology 35
User sentiment 35
Market impact 36
Further reading 37
Ask the analyst 37
List of Tables
Table 1: The IT systems management Decision Matrix 8
List of Figures
Figure 1: The IT Systems Management Decision Matrix 8
Figure 2: Market leaders analysis: Technology 11
Figure 3: Market leaders analysis: User sentiment 13
Figure 4: Market leaders analysis: Impact 14
Figure 5: The BMC IT Systems Management Radar 16
Figure 6: The CA IT Systems Management Radar 18
Figure 7: The EMC IT Systems Management Radar 20
Figure 8: The Fujitsu IT Systems Management Radar 22
Figure 9: The IBM IT Systems Management Radar 24
Figure 10: The HP IT Systems Management Radar 26
Figure 11: The Microsoft IT Systems Management Radar 28
Figure 12: The Novell IT Systems Management Radar 30
Figure 13: The Symantec IT Systems Management Radar 32

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