Market Perspectives

We are happy to share some insights about IBM from our latest Value Index research, Ventana Research Value Index: Product Experience Management, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

In all of our Value Indexes we utilize a structured research methodology that includes evaluation categories designed to reflect real-world criteria incorporated in a request for proposal (RFP) and vendor selection process for product information management (PIM) and product experience management (PXM). We evaluated IBM and 15 other vendors in seven categories, five relevant to the product (Adaptability, Capability, Manageability, Reliability and Usability) and two related to the vendor (TCO/ROI and Validation). To arrive at the Value Index rating for a given vendor, we weighted each category to reflect its relative importance in an RFP process, with the weightings based on our experience and on data derived from our Product Experience Management Benchmark Research.

IBM has been in the market providing data management for decades, and its continued support for PIM comes through its focus on MDM, and IBM Product Master.

IBM was categorized as a Vendor of Merit and ranked 11th overall in this Value Index evaluation. It also ranked 11th in Product Experience and seventh in Adaptability and Manageability, its best placement. It ranked 11th in Customer Experience and performed best in TCO/ROI, placing 12th. Its overall performance was impacted by its lower rankings in Usability and Capability where it placed 13th and 12th respectively, which represents 40% of the weighting in the overall Value Index.

Our assessment finds that IBM could perform better by examining its commitment to the requirements of managing product information over multiple roles and that for which is shared outside the organizations in the product experiences it provides. It can also examine the commitment to its existing customers on the strategic future of the product.

This assessment was based on IBM InfoSphere Master Data Management 12 supporting product experience management and was available in November of 2022.

IBM, like all vendors in this space, should focus on the growing requirements for what product experiences are expected and how feedback from consumption can guide improvement.

This research-based index is the most comprehensive assessment of the value of product experience management software in the industry. Technology buyers can learn more about how to use our Value Index by clicking here and included vendors that wish to learn more can click here. Read the report here.