Gartner Magic Quadrant – need to focus on ‘ability to execute’

Gartner published its Magic Quadrant for Contact Centre Infrastructure in the summer, and - as an Avaya Connect Platinum Partner – we were obviously delighted to see Avaya maintaining its strong position in the prestigious Visionary/Leader sector.

Looking again at the Magic Quadrant, it’s clear that it provides a useful tool for customers wanting a quick market snapshot. However I believe that it could also be all too easy, for a prospective buyer looking at the top right quadrant, to see Avaya, Cisco and Genesys placed firmly in the middle together and conclude that there was actually little to differentiate between these three players.

In compiling its Magic Quadrant for Contact Centre Infrastructure, Gartner considers a range of evaluation issues that determine a vendor’s completeness of vision and its ability to execute. Key criteria include breadth of offer, viability, market responsiveness, and the strength and expertise of the sales channel.

However, to apply the Magic Quadrant to the UK contact centre infrastructure market, I believe that it is necessary to apply further specific regional data on ‘ability to execute’. For example, as a long-term contact centre infrastructure systems integration specialist, we rarely come across Cisco in the UK customer contact space. So the question is, are there large Call Centres operating with the complete Cisco Call Centre application suite now in the UK? If the ability to execute is so high for Cisco, where is the evidence in the UK market?

While the Gartner Magic Quadrant is a great starting point, when it comes to ‘ability to execute’, there’s still no substitute to doing your own homework.