Not only does it get a good review, it's also the only product to be in the leader quadrant. Nice!
Gartner sees some trends in the ERP market, like
- industry-specific functionality or verticalization
- globalization, no longer being exclusive for large enterprises
- consolidation in the market of ERP vendors
For both point 1 and 2, you can see Ax has grown the past few years. Offering a wealth of vertical solutions, certified and all. Microsoft also worked on the stability and performance of the product, making Ax even more suited to global operating companies, enterprise size or not. (fe Unicode support, multiple-time zones)
Some points why Ax scored so well in the report:
- the user interface is considered to be very intuitive and easy to learn and use + it's role tailored
- broad range of functionality, both horizontal and vertical
- strong worldwide partner channel, certified
- completeness of vision from Microsoft
- scalable product, easy to customize for both enhancements and proces changes
All in all, a very good report. Nice to know for companies who have invested or are planning to invest in this offering.
You can read more of the report, which includes reviews of products from Oracle, SAP and Microsoft (with Dynamics NAV as well) over here.
Edit:
The report scores well with the press guys at Microsoft. But over the internet, a lot of criticism can be heard. Like on zdnet, cio.com, and The Enterprise System Spectator. They score some good arguments to question the outcome of the report (like no SaaS vendors included).
What can be learned from that? Don't use the Magic Quadrant as a buying guide for products. After all, if the solution you have an eye on has a perfect fit for your functional requirements, what do you care if the vendor has no worldwide presence if your a local operating company? Use the outcome of the report (pro and contra's) and verify them with your own findings/requirements. What are YOU looking for in an ERP suite and how is this evaluated by Gartner?
