Most people drink during the holiday season to toast family and friends, bring in the near year, or calm themselves from the stress of the holiday season.  For me, it’s all that and also to toast completing Gartner’s Magic Quadrant survey on DLP.

Yes, it’s that time of year again when I spend my days/nights/weekends working on my company’s submission.  It seems to come around quickly each year and always at the end when everyone’s busy closing out the quarter/year, completing next year’s business plans, etc.  For those that haven’t gone through the survey process let me tell you that it is very exhausting, and very fun.

The MQ process is kind of like the Super Bowl of the technology space.  Its hard work but the reward can be huge.  I don’t know that most people realize how in depth the process is so here’s a glimpse… 

• The entire process takes approximately six months from start to finish
• The survey questionnaire alone includes ten tabs with a total of about 1,200 lines of questions/answers
• It requires alignment of resources spanning sales, marketing, finance, IT, business development, human resources, and engineering

Most customers who read the MQs take them very seriously.  I can’t tell you how many times someone has asked me what quadrant my company is in.  There have been a few people, however, that have challenged the independence and analysis of the report.  In fact, some have even said that vendors “pay” for their position.  Not true.  I wish all I had to do was cut a check.

I’ve led the efforts for multiple MQs now and I have to say it is one of the most exhaustive analyses out there.  And for as much time and effort as each vendor spends the analysts at Gartner have their work cut out for them too.  It may seem like a simple report/chart at the end of the day, but analyzing so much detail and synthesizing it down into a simple, straightforward, and relevant report is no easy task.

Bottom line, the MQ is tough work - for everyone!  Thankfully I’ve got a bottle of scotch waiting for me.  I hope everyone else going through the process does too.

- Dave