NetScout and Gartner continue to battle over Gartner’s Magic Quadrant vendor ratings, and while the related court case slowly proceeds, the most recent report has fanned the flames.
NetScout initially filed a lawsuit against Gartner last August, alleging that the analyst firm’s Magic Quadrant ratings were essentially a “pay-to-play” model and that NetScout’s rating as a “challenger” in the network performance monitoring and diagnostics space was given because it had not hired Gartner for consulting services. Last year was the first time Gartner produced a Magic Quadrant rating for the NPMD space.
NetScout was notified in December that it would be included in the most recent report, according to NetScout VP of marketing Jim McNeil, and despite protests from the company, it was. The report was released last week and included 15 vendors in the space, according to Gartner’s summary.
While NetScout acknowledges that Gartner has the right to write about whichever companies it pleases, McNeil said that NetScout believes companies should be able to decline inclusion, and that Gartner shouldn’t imply that its Magic Quadrant ratings provide apples-to-apples comparisons across vendors who have provided the analyst company with information, vs. those that have not, such as NetScout.
“If they do not have access to the information they state is relevant to their report, then how can they include companies in the report and give the impression that they are making an informed decision?” McNeil said. He added that the most recent report includes a footnote that NetScout declined to participate, but “they still opine on NetScout’s position in the market in a rather disparaging way, even though companies like IDC and Frost & Sullivan recognize us as being market leaders.”
