Analyst reports such as the Magic Quadrant evaluate tech vendors using standardized criteria and methodology to provide insights about various industry topics. These reports also provide predictions and data about key trends in the technology sector. In August 2020, Safe Software was recognized for the first time on the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Tools. Find out why we’re excited and check out our take on the top trends identified by Gartner.
Safe was also recognized on Gartner Peer Insights ‘Voice of the Customers’ for Data Integration Tools View the Report
What is the Magic Quadrant?
If you have been involved in the software buying process before, chances are you’ve experienced the complexity of the software market. Navigating new features and marketing jargon can be overwhelming and it can be difficult to distinguish vendors from one another. Often buyers turn to trusted sources such as peers, review websites, and third party analyst firms to cut through the noise and help decide what is right for their organization’s needs.
The Magic Quadrant is one of the most trusted sources for this information because it provides a wide-angle view of the market from the eyes of a third party who has reviewed and researched prominent vendors. Gartner publishes a Magic Quadrant annually for each major technology market including data integration, data science and machine learning (DSML), and business intelligence.
The 2020 Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Tools recognized new vendors like us, Safe Software, which we believe is due to the fact that we bring a new & unique set of capabilities to the category. We encourage you to read the full report here.
Top Trends Identified in Data Integration by Gartner
One of the key trends Gartner identified in 2020 was the need for data integration tools to support hybrid/multi cloud data management.
Gartner states, “Through 2025, over 80% of organizations will use more than one cloud service provider (CSP) for their data and analytics use cases, making it critical for them to prioritize an independent and CSP-neutral integration technology to avoid vendor lock-ins.”
At Safe Software, we also observed this trend. We’ve seen many customers working through hybrid situations during their organization’s progressive transition from on-premises to the cloud. In some cases, organizations have found themselves adopting multi-cloud to support various business unit’s different needs.
Fortunately for our users, FME was built with vendor neutrality at its core. The original use case for FME was to help users convert their data from vendor locked formats into neutral formats so it could be utilized across the business. As FME has continued to evolve, vendor neutral cloud support has become an area of focus. We believe it is important for organizations to have the ability to seamlessly access their data and their data integration tools no matter where it is hosted in their organization. That is why we continue to provide integration for all major cloud providers including AWS, Azure & Google.
Welcoming of a Spatial Data Integration Solution
Since 2018, we’ve observed five new vendors be named to Magic Quadrant. We believe this is a signal that buyer’s data integration use cases are becoming increasingly more complex and a one-size fits all approach is unable to satisfy many organization’s diverse integration needs.
In 1993, we recognized that spatial data was being left out of other vendors’ offerings. This inhibited GIS analysts, location intelligence experts, and data scientists from having access and the ability to transform the data they needed to answer the question of “where”. Why does spatial data matter? Spatial data affects everyone’s day-to-day lives and is used to support public transportation networks, manage pipelines and underground assets, enable indoor wayfinding and more. Without a tool like FME, organizations are forced to build custom code to integrate spatial data. We are pleased to offer the most diverse range of spatial data integration support of any vendor on market.
Why Was Safe Software & FME Recognized by the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant?
We believe this recognition is the result of our top priorities:
Customer Service is Key
Our mission at Safe has always been to help organizations maximize the value of their data. Safe Software was born when co-founders Don Murray and Dale Lutz decided they wanted to help organizations like the BC Government spend less time fighting with their data. Fast forward 25 years later and we continue to put our customers first. At Safe we strive to provide our customers with free resources, a supportive global community, and exceptional technical support. We believe our focus on customer service was a contributing factor that led us to being recognized on the Magic Quadrant.
Global Reach
Throughout our 25+ years in business, Safe has steadily grown from a team of two in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, to a team of 180+ staff and 150+ global partners. We began as a team wanting to solve a problem and surrounded ourselves with innovative systems integrators and resellers to provide valuable services to our users. Today, through our international partner network, FME is used in 125+ countries around the world and has been localized into French, German, Japanese, Spanish, and Chinese. Safe Software represents the Canadian Technology Supercluster and BC Tech community on the global stage. We believe our focus on global reach contributed to us being recognized by the Magic Quadrant.
Leading Vendor in Spatial Data Integration
The reason why FME was a necessary solution for the forestry industry was because of the challenges faced when it came to integrating spatial data. Formats like CAD and GIS didn’t “speak” to each other the way people needed them to. Since mastering data integration with spatial data, we’ve added support for some of the most complex data including BIM, raster, and 3D.
We believe with the proliferation of spatial data being generated by devices like smartphones, satellites, and drones, spatial data is increasingly becoming a key requirement in many organization’s data integration strategy. We believe our vision and leadership in the world of spatial data integration led us to being recognized on the Magic Quadrant.
This milestone couldn’t have been made possible without our global FME community. If you’ve been using FME for a few months or your entire career, your feedback & support is deeply appreciated. You are the entire reason we come to work every day. Thank you for being a part of our journey to the global stage!
Get the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Tools report.
Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Tools, Ehtisham Zaidi, Eric Thoo, Nick Heudecker, Sharat Menon, Robert Thanaraj, 18 August 2020.
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Megan Taylor
As a Business Analyst, Megan works to identify how FME and Safe Software can better support data users with their challenges. You can catch Megan at FME events or on the rink playing or coaching hockey.
