The quality of product data plays an increasingly important role in a company's sales strategy. When this data is comprehensive, reliable, and consistent, eCommerce sales can increase by 16%1. This means that it has become inevitable to use PIM / MDM software.
There are numerous different solutions in the PIM market: 139 different PIMs2 were identified on the G2 software comparison platform.
For businesses wishing to install a system, this means spending a lot of time studying and comparing the different solutions available. To save time they can look to the reports written by Forrester Wave PIM and Gartner Magic Quadrant MDM.
Discover the advantages and the limitations of these analyses and how a business can use them intelligently to search for the PIM / MDM which will best suit their needs.
#Understanding Forrester Wave PIM and Gartner Magic Quadrant MDM
MDM for Gartner and PIM for Forrester
Gartner and Forrester are two consulting and research companies on the technology market. With Ventana Research, they are references in their field and are renowned internationally. Known respectively for the « Magic Quadrant » and the « Forrester Wave », their reports provide a global analysis of the market: key contributors, positioning, features required, trends…
PIM (Product Information Management) software shares many strategic features with MDM (Master Data Management) software. We can therefore frequently find the same solutions in both categories. So it is the use that is made of the software that makes it more like PIM or MDM.
Gartner chose to focus on the MDM process with a range of 5 use cases: « MDM of B2C customer data », « MDM of B2B customer data », « MDM of buy-side product data », « MDM of sell-side product data », « Multidomain MDM ». While Forrester on the other hand focuses on PIM with 3 categories: “PIM-pure play », « MDM pure-play », « PIM/MDM hybrid solutions ».
Because PIM and MDM have shared features, it's only when you determine how the tool will be used that you can chose one analysis report over another.
#The method used
To produce their reports, Gartner and Forrester proceed methodically. The worldwide market of PIM and MDM is far too vast to allow them to study all the available solutions in detail. They have to make a selection before carrying out in-depth analyses of their chosen solutions. To make this selection they use a list of very precise criteria.
#Inclusion criteria
Gartner sets a limit of 20 suppliers that they select based on a range of inclusion criteria. For a supplier to be included one of the key criteria is that the revenue they generate through MDM type solutions must be above 15 million dollars and their solution must be available on at least two continents.
Forrester limits their list to 10 suppliers using similar inclusion criteria, in particular a revenue of above 20 million dollars in PIM domains and a clientele including several multinationals.
#Evaluation criteria
Gartner and Forrester then make a global assessment of the different offers to position them on the market. To do this, they use general « evaluation criteria »: global viability, client experience, marketing strategy, revenue, revenue growth… For each offer, the criteria are ranked and weighted according to their importance for Gartner (high, medium, low) and according to a rating scale from 0 to 5 for Forrester. This gives them a comprehensive evaluation table illustrated by a summary infographic which shows the relative importance of the selected publishers and their individual position on this market.
#Gartner Magic « Quadrant MDM » and Forrester Wave PIM »: advantages and limitations
#Advantages
Gartner Magic Quadrant MDM and Forrester Wave PIM provide businesses with a global overview of the market, contextualized associated elements (strategies, forecasts, stats…) and the position of the market titans. With Gartner Magic Quadrant MDM and Forrester Wave PIM, businesses can fully understand the key issues covered by PIM / MDM solutions and the directions made by the main software publishers.
#Limitations
Gartner and Forrester's intention is not to provide an overall view of the suppliers on the market. The criteria used excludes many suppliers. There are therefore many other solutions with great features: less expensive, experience on specific industries, proximity, specific features, innovative methodology, ergonomics, and simplicity…
For a business wishing to install a PIM / MDM and considering implementing a call for bids, the first step is to read these reports. They should then research and contact the solutions which seem to best correspond to their needs and their budget before making a shortlist and requesting a demo / POC (see our article on the steps to follow for a successful call for bids).
To take this research even further, there are plenty of resources available online: e-books, infographics, whitepapers… which are a valuable source of information across a large range of themes.
1Abitbol, L. A., & Mariën, M. M. (2017, november 28). Product Information Management : Enhance user experience thanks to the relevance of product data. keyrus.com.
2MarketsandMarketsTM INC. Product Information Management Market worth $11.4 billion by 2024.