We are pleased to share that Microsoft is named a Leader in the 2021 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Cloud Database Management Systems.¹ This placement reflects our completeness of vision and ability to execute, and we feel is a testament to our ongoing innovation and the integration of a comprehensive cloud data management ecosystem into Microsoft’s end-to-end data platform.

Today’s organizations are modernizing their data platforms as part of a broader digital transformation and need to rely on data as a strategic asset and competitive differentiator. Azure offers a full range of solutions for businesses seeking to accelerate their recovery from economic uncertainty. Gartner evaluates these use cases across 15 distinct criteria to determine their Magic Quadrant placements.

Figure 1: Magic Quadrant for Cloud Database Management Systems.²

An end-to-end data platform

Nearly thirty years ago, Microsoft released the first version of SQL Server. Since then, we’ve delivered a steady stream of innovation that consistently provides value to our customers. Today, we’ve evolved to offer a complete end-to-end data platform that focuses on three core capabilities businesses need for successful digital transformations:

• Limitless database performance and scale.
• Unmatched analytics and insights.
• Unified data governance.

In fact, our recent announcement of SQL Server 2022 in preview showcases our most Azure-enabled SQL Server release yet, with Azure SQL Managed Instance, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Azure Purview integrations in a single product.

We continue to invest in our Azure SQL family of databases to provide flexible options for app migration, modernization, and development. With up to 16 TB of storage, memory-optimized hardware, and native Azure Virtual Network support, SQL Managed Instance enables organizations to modernize their most mission-critical workloads onto a fully managed service—while providing the best of on-premises SQL Server features and functionality. What’s more, Hyperscale and serverless compute on SQL Database make it easy to cost-effectively future-proof applications.

Azure is also the best cloud for NoSQL and open-source databases. Azure Cosmos DB is a fully managed NoSQL database built to support production applications at any size or scale. We make it simple for developers to independently and elastically scale applications across any Azure region. New deployment options in our open source databases provide customers with maximum control alongside built-in capabilities for cost optimization and increased productivity.

We’re building a complete analytics continuum, with the goal of making intelligent, real-time data insights accessible to people across every organization. Since the debut of Azure Synapse Analytics, the number of Azure customers running petabyte-scale workloads has increased fivefold. Shortly after, we introduced Azure Synapse Link for Azure Cosmos DB, which created a simple, cloud-native HTAP solution for real-time business insights. Going one step further, we recently announced the general availability of Azure Synapse Link for Dataverse. This service enables immediate insights with high-value Microsoft Dynamics data.

Unified data governance is mission-critical to today’s businesses. Azure Purview, our unified data governance service, helps organizations manage and govern their on-premises, multicloud, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) data. With over 57 billion data assets discovered by customers already, Azure Purview ensures your Microsoft data estate is governed through deep integrations with data services in Azure, Microsoft 365, Power Platform, and more.

Building your applications on Microsoft’s comprehensive and connected platform means more of your data is immediately available to deliver more insights that can make your business smarter, creating a flywheel to help propel your business forward.

Global insights and momentum

According to Gartner, among the segments making up enterprise public cloud services, database platform as a service and cloud infrastructure and platform services saw the fastest growth in 2020, with 50.8 percent and 43.2 percent year on year, respectively.³ This growth is driven primarily by ongoing application migrations to the cloud, data center consolidations, and digital business initiatives.

Data and analytics play central roles in how organizations conduct business through a digital lens. In fact, Chief Data Officers (CDO) who successfully demonstrate return on investment from their data and analytics investments are 1.7 times more likely to consistently produce clear business value. In addition, they are 2.3 times more likely to reduce time to market and 3.5 times more likely to monetize their data.⁴ Gareth Herschel, Research Vice President at Gartner, wrote, “As enterprises look to recover from the profound disruptions of the last year, D&A [data and analytics] can help with tasks such as enabling business model transformation, optimizing resource allocation, or figuring out new ways to connect employees, customers and other stakeholders.”⁵

Next steps

If you’re ready to harness the power of cloud migration to digitally transform your enterprise, take the next step with the following resources:

• Read the full complimentary Gartner report.
• Visit our website to learn more about limitless database scale and performance, unmatched analytics, and insights.
• Create a managed cloud database with your Azure free account.

GARTNER and Magic Quadrant are registered trademarks and service marks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

References

¹ Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Cloud Database Management Systems, November 2021, Henry Cook, Merv Adrian, Adam Ronthal, Rick Greenwald, and Philip Russom.

² This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Microsoft. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product, or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Microsoft products covered include: Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, Azure Cache for Redis, Azure SQL Edge, Azure Cosmos DB, Azure HDInsight, and Azure Database for PostgreSQL, MySQL, and MariaDB

³ Market Share: Enterprise Public Cloud Services, Worldwide, 2020, Gartner, Inc.

⁴ Gartner Survey Finds 72 percent of Data & Analytics Leaders Are Leading or Heavily Involved in Digital Transformation Initiatives, Gartner, Inc.

⁵ Gartner Highlights Three Actions for Data & Analytics Leaders to Succeed in a Changing World, Gartner, Inc.