Gartner's BPM Magic Quadrant: What Replaced It?
Choosing the right automation platform can feel overwhelming, and for many years, the business process management gartner magic quadrant served as a trusted compass. It helped organizations see which vendors were executing well and which had a compelling vision for the future. Now that it’s gone, how do you make a confident choice? This change is actually a positive development for you. It shifts the focus from a simple competitive ranking to a more nuanced evaluation of what your business truly needs. Instead of just picking a "leader," you're now empowered to find the perfect fit by aligning a platform's specific capabilities with your unique operational goals.
Key Takeaways
- Gartner's Focus Has Shifted: The BPM Magic Quadrant was replaced by a Market Guide for Business Process Automation (BPA), mirroring the industry's move from managing isolated tasks to orchestrating integrated, end-to-end workflows.
- Prioritize Your Needs Over Vendor Rankings: Use the Market Guide to understand the landscape, but let your specific business goals drive your decision. Look for platforms with powerful integration (iPaaS) and low-code features that can act as a central hub for your existing systems.
- Adopt a Composable Automation Strategy: Instead of seeking a single, all-in-one tool, choose a core platform that connects your different applications. This creates a flexible and scalable automation framework that can evolve with your organization.
What Was the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Business Process Management?
For years, if you were in the market for a business process management (BPM) solution, the Gartner Magic Quadrant was your map. Think of it as the definitive guide that helped organizations cut through the marketing noise and see which vendors were truly delivering on their promises. It offered a clear, visual snapshot of the market, plotting different companies based on how well they could execute their promises and how forward-thinking their vision was. This wasn't just a simple list; it was a strategic tool that helped leaders make confident decisions about which technology partners to trust with their critical business processes.
The Magic Quadrant helped answer the big questions: Who are the established leaders with a proven track record? Who are the up-and-coming innovators pushing the boundaries of what's possible? And most importantly, who is the best fit for our specific operational needs? For many enterprise architects and IT decision-makers, a vendor's position in the Magic Quadrant was a critical data point in the evaluation process. It provided a common language and framework for discussing and comparing complex software solutions. While Gartner has since evolved its approach—shifting focus toward a broader view of business process automation—understanding the original Magic Quadrant is key to appreciating how we evaluate these powerful tools today. It set the standard for vendor analysis, and its core principles still influence how we assess technology.
How the Magic Quadrant Methodology Works
The beauty of the Magic Quadrant was its straightforward methodology. It evaluated companies on two core axes: “Ability to Execute” and “Completeness of Vision.” “Ability to Execute” measured a vendor's current performance—how well they deliver their product, their financial viability, and their customer experience. “Completeness of Vision” looked to the future, assessing their understanding of the market, their product strategy, and their innovation. Based on their position, vendors were placed into one of four quadrants: Leaders, Challengers, Visionaries, or Niche Players. This framework allowed businesses to quickly see who was leading the pack and who might be a better fit for a more specific, specialized need.
Gartner's Evaluation Criteria for BPM Vendors
Though the BPM Magic Quadrant has been retired, the criteria Gartner used to assess vendors are more relevant than ever. The focus has now broadened to Business Process Automation (BPA) tools, reflecting the market's move toward more holistic automation. When evaluating modern platforms, the key features to look for are directly descended from this analysis. You need a tool with an intuitive, visual workflow designer, robust integration capabilities to connect with your existing systems, and sophisticated business rules management. Other must-haves include real-time performance tracking, low-code development tools that empower more of your team, and built-in collaboration features. These criteria help ensure you choose a solution that not only automates tasks but truly transforms your processes.
What Happened to the BPM Magic Quadrant?
If you’ve been searching for the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Business Process Management (BPM) recently, you’ve probably noticed it’s nowhere to be found. You’re not missing anything—Gartner retired it. This wasn't just a simple name change; it signals a fundamental shift in how we think about and use process management tools. The industry has moved beyond the traditional scope of BPM, and Gartner's evaluation methods have evolved right along with it. Understanding this change is key to making smart decisions about the automation software you choose for your organization. The focus has sharpened from simply managing processes to actively automating them across the entire enterprise, creating a more connected and efficient operational fabric.
The Shift from BPM to Business Process Automation
The most direct answer to what happened is that Gartner stopped publishing the "Magic Quadrant for Business Process Management (BPM)" and replaced it with a "Market Guide for Business Process Automation (BPA) Tools." This change reflects a broader industry trend where businesses are no longer just managing individual processes in isolation. Instead, they are focused on automating and integrating workflows across their entire technology stack. The term Business Process Automation (BPA) better captures this modern, holistic approach, where the goal is to create seamless, efficient operations from end to end. It’s about making your systems work together intelligently, not just mapping out how they should work.
Why Gartner Evolved Its Approach
The tools themselves have also changed dramatically. What started as simple workflow software has grown into something much more powerful. As one industry analysis notes, workflow automation has grown beyond simple tools and now includes so many features that it has become a larger "orchestration" platform. Think of it like a conductor for your business software. An iPaaS solution, for example, doesn't just manage one instrument; it ensures all your different applications and systems work together in harmony. Gartner’s new approach acknowledges that modern platforms are expected to handle this complex orchestration, a task far beyond the scope of traditional BPM.
How Market Changes Drove the Transition
This evolution was driven by you—the user. Companies today need more than a simple ranking of vendors; they need to find the right tools for their specific challenges. The Market Guide format is designed to help buyers understand the market landscape and identify vendors that align with their needs. It also reflects the move toward what’s known as a "composable automation" strategy. This means businesses are piecing together flexible, specialized automation tools to build custom solutions. Instead of a single, rigid system, you can create a technology stack that is perfectly tailored to your operational goals and can adapt as your business grows.
How Gartner Evaluates Business Process Automation Tools Today
If you’ve been searching for the latest Gartner Magic Quadrant for BPM, you might have noticed it’s gone. But don’t worry, Gartner hasn’t stopped analyzing the automation space—they’ve just changed their approach to better reflect how businesses are using technology today. Instead of a single, competitive ranking, their evaluation is now spread across different reports and formats that focus on market trends and specific capabilities. This shift actually gives you a clearer picture of what matters most in a modern automation tool. Understanding how Gartner looks at the market can help you identify the features and strategies that will truly make a difference for your organization. Let's break down what they focus on now.
"Ability to Execute" Criteria
Gartner has retired the "Magic Quadrant for Business Process Management" and now publishes a "Market Guide for Business Process Automation (BPA) Tools." This change is more than just a new name; it signals a major evolution in the industry. Instead of ranking vendors against each other in a competitive grid, the Market Guide gives you a high-level overview of the market, highlights important trends, and helps you identify the different types of companies offering BPA tools. The focus is less on who’s "winning" and more on what’s happening in the automation world, so you can make a more informed choice based on your specific needs rather than a vendor's position in a quadrant.
"Completeness of Vision" Assessment
While there isn't a direct Magic Quadrant for "workflow automation" anymore, you can find clues about Gartner's evaluation criteria in related reports, like those for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms (LCAP) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA). In these analyses, Gartner consistently looks for a few key capabilities. They value platforms with strong visual workflow designers, robust integration capabilities that connect with other applications, and sophisticated business rules management. They also prioritize performance tracking, low-code development features that empower more people to build solutions, and tools that support team collaboration. These criteria show a clear preference for platforms that are both powerful and accessible.
The Focus on Integration and Orchestration
One of the biggest trends Gartner highlights is the move away from single, all-in-one platforms. Modern automation isn't about finding one tool to do everything. Instead, it’s about using the right tools to connect and manage processes across all your different systems. This is often called a "composable automation" strategy, where you build a flexible, interconnected ecosystem. Gartner predicts that by 2025, 80% of companies using BPA tools will be using them to integrate various business services and APIs. This makes orchestration a critical function for any modern automation platform, which must serve as the central hub that keeps all your other systems working together seamlessly.
Who Leads in Business Process Automation?
Even though Gartner has moved away from its Magic Quadrant for BPM, the business process automation market is still full of strong contenders. When you start looking for a solution, you'll see a few names pop up again and again. These platforms are recognized for their robust capabilities, user-friendly designs, and ability to integrate with the tools you already use. Understanding what makes each one stand out is the first step in figuring out which is the right fit for your organization's specific goals. Let's look at some of the key players that are consistently recognized as leaders in the automation space.
FlowWright: A Comprehensive Automation Platform
FlowWright is known for being a powerful and truly comprehensive platform. It’s designed to handle everything from simple, everyday tasks to highly complex, enterprise-wide workflows. If your goal is to drive significant efficiency and productivity gains, this is the kind of tool you should be looking at. What makes it different is its ability to manage intricate processes that other tools might struggle with. With a comprehensive suite of features that includes a graphical designer, an embeddable .NET engine, and AI-powered tools, it gives both technical and business users the power to build, automate, and innovate without limits.
UiPath: User-Friendly Automation
UiPath has made a name for itself as a leader in Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Its biggest strength is its user-friendly interface, which makes automation accessible even for teams without deep technical expertise. This makes it a popular choice for small and medium-sized businesses looking to automate repetitive, rule-based tasks, especially in office environments or customer service departments. While it excels at task automation, it's important to understand that RPA is often one component of a broader business process automation strategy, which typically requires more advanced workflow orchestration.
Microsoft Power Automate: Seamless Integration
If your organization runs on Microsoft, Power Automate is a name you'll hear often. Its main advantage is its seamless integration with Microsoft's cloud services, including Office 365, Dynamics 365, and Azure. This makes it incredibly easy to connect different applications and automate workflows within that ecosystem. Many organizations choose it for its simplicity and the speed at which they can get automations up and running. It's a solid choice for streamlining operations, especially if your processes are heavily reliant on Microsoft's suite of tools.
Other Notable Vendors
The business process automation market is broad, and there are many other excellent vendors to consider. Names like Pega, Appian, IBM, and Nintex frequently appear in industry discussions, each with its own unique strengths. Some specialize in case management, while others focus on low-code application development or specific industry verticals. This variety is great for buyers because it means there's likely a solution out there that’s perfectly tailored to your needs. The key is to look beyond the big names and evaluate platforms based on the specific challenges you’re trying to solve.
What the Market Guide Format Means for You
Gartner’s shift from the Magic Quadrant to the Market Guide for this space isn’t just a name change—it reflects a fundamental evolution in the automation industry. For you, this means adjusting how you evaluate and select a platform. Instead of looking for a single "leader" in a ranked list, the focus is now on finding the right fit for your specific business challenges and long-term strategy. This new format empowers you to look beyond vendor marketing and concentrate on the capabilities that will actually drive your digital transformation forward. It’s a more nuanced approach that rewards a deeper understanding of your own operational needs and the market's direction.
This change puts the power back in your hands, encouraging a more thoughtful selection process that leads to better, more sustainable automation outcomes for your organization. It moves the conversation from "Who is the best?" to "Who is the best for us?" This requires you to be more introspective about your goals, whether you need to streamline internal workflows, integrate legacy systems, or build a foundation for future AI-driven processes. The Market Guide serves as your map of the terrain, showing you the different paths available without declaring one as the only route to success.
Market Guide vs. Magic Quadrant: What's the Difference?
Think of the Magic Quadrant as a report card for mature, well-defined markets. It evaluates vendors on their vision and their ability to deliver, placing them into one of four quadrants: Leaders, Challengers, Visionaries, or Niche Players. It’s a competitive ranking. In contrast, Gartner uses the Market Guide for newer or rapidly changing markets, like business process automation. The guide provides an overview of the market's direction and lists representative vendors, but it doesn't rank them against each other. Its purpose is to help you understand the landscape and the types of solutions available, not to tell you who is "best."
How to Get Vendor Insights Without Rankings
Without a ranked list, you have to take a more hands-on approach to vendor evaluation—which is a good thing. The Market Guide encourages you to define your requirements first, then find a vendor that matches. Use the guide to understand what’s possible with modern automation tools and to create a shortlist of vendors whose offerings align with your goals. Look at the key features and capabilities highlighted in the research and compare them to your internal needs for process design, integration, and scalability. This method ensures you choose a partner based on a genuine fit, rather than just their position on a chart.
Focus on Trends Over Vendor Positioning
The Market Guide format pushes you to think more strategically about market trends. One of the biggest shifts is toward "composable automation," where businesses connect and manage processes across many different systems. Instead of looking for a single tool to do everything, the goal is to build a flexible, integrated ecosystem. The guide highlights this trend, showing that the future of automation lies in platforms that can serve as a central hub for your various applications. When evaluating vendors, prioritize those with strong integration platform (iPaaS) solutions and a clear strategy for helping you build a connected, adaptable enterprise.
How to Choose the Right Business Process Automation Solution
With Gartner’s market guides replacing the old Magic Quadrant, the focus is now on finding the right tool for your specific job rather than just picking a name from a ranked list. This shift puts more power in your hands, but it also means you need a clear strategy for evaluating your options. Think of it less like picking a winner and more like building a custom toolkit. The right solution will feel like a natural extension of your team, fitting into your existing workflows while paving the way for future innovation. Let's walk through a simple, three-step framework to help you identify the platform that truly fits your organization's goals.
Align Vendor Strengths with Your Business Needs
The first step is to look inward. Before you even start looking at vendors, you need a crystal-clear picture of what you want to achieve. Are you trying to streamline document processing, automate financial approvals, or orchestrate complex, multi-system workflows? Each goal requires a different set of capabilities. As Gartner's new approach suggests, the key is to align vendor strengths with your specific business needs. Make a list of your must-have outcomes and your nice-to-have features. This list will become your North Star, helping you cut through the marketing noise and focus on the platforms that can actually solve your problems and scale with you as your needs evolve.
Prioritize These Key Features in Your Search
Once you know what you need, you can start evaluating platforms based on their core features. While every business is unique, there are a few non-negotiable capabilities that any modern automation solution should offer. When you're comparing options, look for a platform with essential features like easy integration with your existing software, robust analytics for tracking performance, and a low-code interface that empowers both technical and non-technical users. The ability to connect with other systems is crucial for creating end-to-end automation. A platform with a comprehensive set of features ensures you have the tools to not only meet today's demands but also adapt to future challenges.
Build a Composable Automation Strategy
Finally, think about the big picture. Instead of searching for a single tool to do everything, modern enterprises are building a "composable automation" strategy. This approach involves using a flexible platform to seamlessly connect and manage processes across different systems, creating a more agile and efficient operation. Think of it as using building blocks—you select the best tools for specific tasks and use your core automation platform to orchestrate them. This requires a solution with powerful iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service) capabilities. By adopting this mindset, you can create a highly adaptable and scalable automation framework that drives efficiency across your entire organization.
Put Gartner's Research into Action
Understanding Gartner's shift from the Magic Quadrant to the Market Guide is one thing, but using that knowledge to make smart, strategic decisions for your organization is what really matters. Instead of looking for a single "best" vendor, the new approach encourages you to think more critically about the market and your specific needs. This is a positive change, as it puts the power back in your hands. It’s about finding the right fit, not just the top name on a chart.
By focusing on market trends and a vendor's core capabilities, you can build a technology stack that not only solves today's challenges but also adapts to whatever comes next. Let's break down how you can translate these insights into a clear, actionable plan for your business.
Turn Research Insights into Smart Decisions
Gartner’s move to a Market Guide for Business Process Automation signals a major shift: the focus is now on understanding the landscape, not just comparing ranked vendors. This guide gives you an overview of the evolving market, helping you identify different types of automation tools and what they offer. Use this to your advantage. Instead of asking, "Who is the leader?" ask, "Which vendor's vision and capabilities align with our long-term goals?" Look for platforms that offer a comprehensive set of features that can handle everything from simple task automation to complex, enterprise-wide workflows. This approach helps you make a choice based on substance and strategic fit.
Future-Proof Your Technology Investment
The idea of a "composable automation" strategy is gaining traction for a good reason. It’s about creating flexible, interconnected layers of automation without having to rip and replace your core business systems. Think of it like building with LEGOs—you can add, remove, and reconfigure pieces as your needs change. To do this, you need a platform built for integration. Look for robust iPaaS solutions and strong API capabilities that allow you to connect disparate systems seamlessly. This ensures that as your organization grows and adopts new technologies, your automation foundation can grow right along with it, protecting your initial investment and providing long-term value.
Plan for Implementation and Scale
Jumping into a massive automation project without a clear plan is a recipe for frustration. Before you even think about tools like process mining or AI, make sure you have a solid grasp of your existing process management. You can't automate what you don't understand. Start with a simple, well-defined task that can deliver a quick, visible win. This helps your team get comfortable with the new technology and builds momentum for more complex projects. Choosing a partner with deep expertise can make all the difference. Working with a team that understands the nuances of implementation helps ensure your project gets off the ground smoothly and is built to scale effectively.
Related Articles
- Business Process Management is More than Workflow
- Business Process Management Software (iBPMS), BPM System, Tools
- FlowWright | Business Process Management
- Enterprise Decision-Making Driven Using Processes
- Beyond RPA: The Case for Intelligent BPA in the Enterprise
Frequently Asked Questions
So, is there no Gartner Magic Quadrant for process automation at all anymore?
That's right, the specific "Magic Quadrant for Business Process Management (BPM)" has been retired. Gartner's analysis has evolved along with the industry. Instead, they now publish a "Market Guide for Business Process Automation (BPA) Tools." This new format focuses on explaining market trends and vendor capabilities rather than ranking them competitively, giving you a broader understanding of your options.
What's the real difference between Business Process Management (BPM) and Business Process Automation (BPA)?
Think of it as a shift in focus from planning to action. Traditional BPM was often about mapping and managing processes, sometimes on a theoretical level. BPA is about actively using technology to execute and automate those processes from end to end. It’s a more holistic approach that emphasizes connecting different systems and creating seamless workflows that run with minimal human intervention.
Without a ranked list, how can I confidently choose the right automation vendor?
This change actually encourages a better evaluation process. Instead of starting with a vendor's rank, you start with your own business needs. First, clearly define the specific problems you want to solve. Then, use theMarket Guide to create a shortlist of vendorswhose strengths and features align with your goals. This forces you to choose a partner based on a genuine fit for your organization, not just their position on a chart.
What is "composable automation" and why is it so important?
Composable automation is the strategy of building your automation capabilities by connecting specialized, best-in-class tools rather than relying on a single, monolithic system. The idea is to create a flexible and adaptable technology stack. This is important because it allows your business to pivot quickly. You need a central platform that can orchestrate all these different tools, ensuring they work together in harmony to automate processes across your entire organization.
My company uses a lot of different software. Should I look for one platform to replace everything, or something that connects them?
You should absolutely look for a platform that connects the software you already use. A rip-and-replace strategy is rarely practical or cost-effective. The most powerful automation solutions today act as an integration hub, or an iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service). They are designed to orchestrate workflows across your existing applications, ensuring data flows smoothly and processes run without interruption, no matter how many different systems are involved.
