Gartner’s first combined hybrid and all flash primary array magic quadrant gives higher then expected rankings to NetApp, Pure and Infinidat, including them alongside traditional leaders Dell EMC, HPE and IBM.
The Blocks & Files standard MQ explainer says the magic quadrant is defined by axes labelled ‘ability to execute’ and ‘completeness of vision’, and split into four squares tagged ‘visionaries’, ‘niche players’, ‘challengers’ and ‘leaders’.
Here’s the quick look primary array diagram every MQ fan wants to see:
And it’s a doozy. We have added a diagonal green line indicating balanced progress to the top right high-point for ability to execute and completeness of vision. We’ve also indicated two separate groups in the leaders’ box.
Group 1 includes top-ranked NetApp, then Dell EMC, with Pure unexpectedly in this group and in, we think, third place, with a strong vision component alongside its ability to execute. HPE is in fourth place.
A sweaker and more closely positioned group of leaders consists of Hitachi Vantara and IBM, then Huawei and, surprise, surprise, startup Infinidat entering alongside publicly-owned and more mature competitors.
The challenger’s box includes Western Digital – another surprise (thank you. Tegile); Fujitsu; DDN – strengthened through the Tintri acquisition; and Lenovo, another unexpected entrant boosted by an OEM deal with NetApp.
The niche players are China’s Inspur. Oracle, NEC, Infortrend and Synology. Playing a solo role in the visionaries’ box is Kaminario, quite close to the leaders’ quadrant. That’s 18 suppliers in total.
Get a copy of the report from Gartner, at a price, or, hopefully, from a vendor licensed to distribute it for no charge.
