Microsoft and Tableau vs all others. I do feel like most others, including Looker, are niche players with none really gaining enough market share to make the top two sweat. Microsoft's strength is really the completeness of platform (data+viz) where Tableau has been trying bolt on pieces over time. I think it's too bad that there isn't more competition as I feel like innovation in BI is stalling. Overall BI is becoming commoditized while adjacent Data Engineering and Data Science/Analytics are surging. Some of the up-and-comers have interesting approaches. I'd like to see more around. Multi-channel BI (portal, push, stream) BI/Data API interfaces (not strictly reporting/viz) GraphDB support More robust cross datasource joining (more like data federation including db, nosql/json, api) Real-time reporting Context aware embedded BI As a side note I find it sad that MicroStrategy is investing $300M in Bitcoin. It's like seeing your Uncle get hooked on meth. Answer from flerkentrainer on reddit.com
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/powerbi › gartner magic quadrant feb 2021
r/PowerBI on Reddit: Gartner Magic Quadrant Feb 2021
August 7, 2019 - (All of these converts by the way are also not in BA/BI roles and would also not be approved for work-paid Tableau subscriptions.) I have a love/hate relationship with Gartner Magic Q but in this case it’s entirely true. I’ve seen it in practice. ... Interesting thread! We've been using Power BI for two and a half years and are becoming increasingly frustrated with it.
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Microsoft Power BI
powerbi.microsoft.com › en-us › blog › microsoft-named-a-leader-in-2021-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-analytics-and-bi-platforms
Microsoft named a Leader in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and BI Platforms | Microsoft Power BI Blog | Microsoft Power BI
February 22, 2021 - Today we’re announcing that for the 14th consecutive year1 Microsoft has been positioned as a Leader in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms.
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SimplyD
simplydynamics.com › home › blog › d365 bc erp blog › power bi gartner report
Power BI Gartner Report - Phone (01) 6876600 - D365
December 13, 2022 - The increasing integration of Power ... Power BI’s reach in the world of remote working. Learn how a comprehensive product vision and intuitive user experience contributed to high levels of customer satisfaction and helped position Microsoft as a Magic Quadrant Leader among analytics and business intelligence platforms. Click Here to Read the Full Report – Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms Report 2021...
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/businessintelligence › gartner magic quadrant 2021 results are in. thoughts?
r/BusinessIntelligence on Reddit: Gartner Magic Quadrant 2021 results are in. Thoughts?
January 18, 2020 -

Read the report here: https://www.qlik.com/us/gartner-magic-quadrant-business-intelligence

Thoughts on the results?

Top answer
1 of 10
28

Microsoft and Tableau vs all others. I do feel like most others, including Looker, are niche players with none really gaining enough market share to make the top two sweat. Microsoft's strength is really the completeness of platform (data+viz) where Tableau has been trying bolt on pieces over time.

I think it's too bad that there isn't more competition as I feel like innovation in BI is stalling. Overall BI is becoming commoditized while adjacent Data Engineering and Data Science/Analytics are surging.

Some of the up-and-comers have interesting approaches. I'd like to see more around.

  • Multi-channel BI (portal, push, stream)

  • BI/Data API interfaces (not strictly reporting/viz)

  • GraphDB support

  • More robust cross datasource joining (more like data federation including db, nosql/json, api)

  • Real-time reporting

  • Context aware embedded BI

As a side note I find it sad that MicroStrategy is investing $300M in Bitcoin. It's like seeing your Uncle get hooked on meth.

2 of 10
17

The companies that list links to the Magic Quadrant have all paid a lot of money for this privilege. They also pay a lot of money for cross-marketing services that Gartner and the many brands (Capterra, SoftwareAdvice, GetApp, and more) they own provide.

Second, they make money by writing about hot topics like AI, ML, Big Data, etc., even when only 1% of BI implementations utilize these. Boring old BI best-practices (e.g. user adoption, semantic modeling, etc.) do not get much clicks.

With that, I do think the analysis is pretty good. Microsoft's ability to execute is solid, however I would say it's not visionary - there aren't many/any features that many of the traditional BI providers have. Tableau is awesome, but not "enterprise-BI", meaning there are few medium+ organizations that can use it as their main BI tool. Qlik has excellent ability to execute, but is really old tech under the covers. They were bought by private equity firms that are milking it's value until they retire it - oldest trick in the private equity book. Having used Yellowfin, it should probably be higher. Oracle should be dead last. IBM should be lower on ability to execute, but much higher on completeness of vision. One of my main critiques is that IBM Cognos tries to do too much, making it inaccessible to regular users.

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Avalytics
avalytics.lt › en › microsoft-is-the-leader-in-analytics-and-bi-platforms-gartner-magic-quadrant-2021
Microsoft is the leader in analytics and BI platforms | Gartner Magic Quadrant 2021 | Avalytics - Power BI trainings and solutions
December 14, 2023 - For example, Power BI is increasingly expanding its integration with the use of artificial intelligence, big data processing (Azure Synapse integration) and other optimizations that already exist. We should not forget the entire Power Platform, whose investments and integrations are no less important, especially in our market. When should you consider another platform? We believe that when you are looking for a solution to a specific problem. You can read more here: Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms
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Storm Technology
storm.ie › insights › news › power-bi-named-a-leader-in-2021-gartner-magic-quadrant
Power BI Named Leader in 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant
While competitors have lost ground moving down and left on the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics & BI Platform's, Microsoft's Power BI solution has for the 14th consecutive year emerged as a leader in BI.
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StratusLIVE
stratuslive.com › blog › gartner-microsoft-power-bi-magic-quadrant
Gartner: Microsoft Named Magic Quadrant Leader 9 Years Running - StratusLIVE
March 24, 2025 - For the ninth consecutive year, world-renowned research and advisory firm Gartner has positioned Microsoft as a Leader in the Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence for its cloud-based Power BI software product.
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Solutions Review
solutionsreview.com › home › what’s changed: 2021 gartner magic quadrant for analytics and business intelligence platforms
What’s Changed: 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms
March 1, 2021 - Microsoft is the overall leader in this Magic Quadrant, dominating all the other vendors in terms of user adoption via an Office 365 bundling with its Power BI cloud service. Microsoft offers data preparation, visual-based data discovery, ...
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Polestar Analytics
polestaranalytics.com › blog › microsoft-aces-as-a-leader-in-gartner-2021-magic-quadrant-for-analytics-and-bi-platforms
Microsoft Dominates 2021 Gartner Analytics Magic Quadrant
March 3, 2021 - Microsoft aces as a Leader in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and BI Platforms. Analyst house Gartner, Inc. is out with its list of leading Analytics & Business Intelligence (ABI) Platforms for 2021.
Find elsewhere
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ZDNET
zdnet.com › home › business › big data
As Power BI aces Gartner's new Magic Quadrant, what's the story behind Microsoft's success? | ZDNET
February 19, 2021 - Gartner's 2021 Magic Quadrant for Analytics and BI Platforms, with Microsoft clearly in the lead Credit: Gartner
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TrinSoft
trinsoft.com › home › blog › gartner recognizes microsoft as leader in analytics and bi platforms for 14th consecutive year
Gartner Recognizes Microsoft as Leader in Analytics and BI Platforms for 14th Consecutive Year - TrinSoft
February 23, 2021 - Microsoft recently announced that for the 14th consecutive year they have been positioned as a Leader in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms.
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Covenanttechnologypartners
covenanttechnologypartners.com › 2021 › 02 › 24 › microsoft-named-a-leader-in-the-2021-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-analytics-and-bi-platforms
Gartner Names Microsoft BI Leader in 2021 - CTP
February 24, 2021 - JavaScript is disabled in your browser · Please enable JavaScript to proceed · A required part of this site couldn’t load. This may be due to a browser extension, network issues, or browser settings. Please check your connection, disable any ad blockers, or try using a different browser
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www.tensoft.com
tensoft.com › home › microsoft positioned as a leader (again) in the gartner magic quadrant
Microsoft Positioned as a Leader (Again) in the Gartner Magic Quadrant
March 4, 2021 - Power BI is the clear leader on the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence (ABI) Platforms. And, this is the 14th consecutive
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Bipp
bipp.io › blog › gartner-magic-quadrant-analytics-and-bi-platforms-2021-insights
Gartner Magic Quadrant Analytics and BI Platforms 2021 insights | bipp Analytics
March 4, 2021 - There’s also a challenge if Power BI users need more than basic dashboards then analysts are required to learn a complex language called DAX that requires considerable training. Alternatively, a SQL-based data modeling layer lets you create visual data models without learning a new language. Once you’ve defined the data models, business users can explore data on their own, create dashboards, trust their visualizations and easily filter them in real-time · Gartner talks about a “…collision course…” where the ABI, data science, and ML platform markets are tumbling into each other like asteroids between Mars and Jupiter.
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KNIME Community
forum.knime.com › knime analytics platform
Gartner Magic Quadrant - KNIME Analytics Platform - KNIME Community Forum
March 14, 2023 - The latest Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence platforms is still led by Power BI, with no mention of KNIME, which was previously included in the Data Science and Machine Learning platforms. With the n…
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Fulton Analytics
fultonanalytics.com › data-blog › forrester-wave-microsoft-powerbi-augmentedbi-leader-analytics-mn
Forrester Wave Signals Power BI As Analytics Leader — Fulton Analytics
November 14, 2023 - Earlier this year, the Gartner Magic Quadrant also selected Power BI as the leader in the category of Analytics & BI Platforms. Power BI was released by Microsoft in July of 2015, and has seen rapid adoption across the globe.
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Onware
onware.com › blog › 2021-gartner-mq-abi-platforms
2021 Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms | Onware
February 23, 2021 - Gartner's Magic Quadrant 2021 shows Tableau and Microsoft's Power BI as the leaders of the Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms.
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Bismart
blog.bismart.com › home › microsoft is the leader in gartner's magic quadrant once again
Microsoft Is the Leader in Gartner's Magic Quadrant Once Again
October 21, 2025 - The results of 2021 Magic Quadrant ... comprehensive and visionary product roadmap and recognizes Power BI as the best analytics and business intelligence platform on the market....
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PowerBI
powerbi.pl › strona główna › blog › microsoft power bi a leader in gartner’s magic quadrant report
Microsoft Power BI a leader in Gartner's Magic Quadrant report | Power BI
July 14, 2024 - For the 14th time, Microsoft is the leader in Gartner's Magic Quadrant 2021 report for analytics and business intelligence platforms. Notably, the company's lead over its competitors Tableau and Qlik is becoming increasingly apparent.