Market Perspectives

We are happy to share some insights about Prefect drawn from our latest market research, Ventana Research Buyers Guide: DataOps, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.  

We recently published four Ventana Research 2023 DataOps Buyers Guides, an assessment of technology vendors and products that provide individual and combined DataOps, data observability, data orchestration and data pipeline platform support.  

At Ventana Research, we continue to believe that, for most use-cases, there is a clear choice for DataOps platforms for any use in your organization. We developed four technology assessments and buyers guides to focus on overall DataOps requirements as well as specific data observability, data orchestration and data pipeline platform use-cases. 

In all of our Buyers Guides, we utilize a structured research methodology called the Value Index that includes evaluation categories designed to reflect real-world criteria incorporated in a request for proposal (RFP) and vendor selection process for DataOps. We evaluated Prefect and 17 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 vendor validation).   

In the overall DataOps Buyers Guide, our analysis classified Prefect as a vendor of Merit, receiving an overall grade of C+ with a 46.9% performance. Prefect’s best grouped results came in Customer Experience at 57.6%  performance and B- grade due in part to its B+ in Validation. In Product Experience, Prefect received a C+ grade with a 45.1% performance due to its 38.0% performance in Capability. Prefect received a B+ in Adaptability and a B- in Manageability. Prefect did not participate in the RFI process. 

Prefect’s C+ grade in Product Experience was impacted by its C in Capability where it could add data observability functionality and expand data pipeline development, deployment and test automation. Customer Experience was impacted by its C+ grade in TCO/ROI where it could better articulate its strategic value and potential business benefits.  

Prefect performed best in Customer Experience with a B- grade, notably in Validation where its performance was due to its product roadmap. In Adaptability where it received a B+ grade, customization and APIs were strong points. Prefect’s technology administration focus led to its decent grade of B- in Manageability. 

In the Data Orchestration Buyers Guide, our analysis classified Prefect as a vendor of Merit, receiving an overall grade of B- with a 57.9% performance. Prefect’s best grouped results came in Product Experience at 58.0% performance and a B- grade due in part to its B+ in Adaptability. In Customer Experience, Prefect received a B- grade with a 57.6% performance due to its 69.9% performance in Validation. Prefect achieved a B- in Manageability and a B- in Capability. Prefect did not participate in the RFI process. 

Prefect’s B- grade in Product Experience was impacted by its C in Reliability where it could provide more information regarding performance, scalability and continuity. Customer Experience was impacted by its C+ grade in TCO/ROI where it could better articulate strategic value and enhance tools to help customers calculate costs.  

Prefect performed best in Product Experience with a B- grade, notably in Adaptability where it received a B+ due to its customization and APIs. In Validation, product roadmap and references and case studies are strengths. Prefect’s focus on technology administration led to its B- grade in Manageability. 

In the Data Pipelines Buyers Guide, our analysis classified Prefect as a vendor of Merit, receiving an overall grade of C++ with a 54.4% performance. Prefect’s best grouped results came in Customer Experience at 57.6% performance and B- grade due in part to its B+ in Validation. In Product Experience, Prefect received a C++ with a 53.5% performance due to its 72.6% performance in Adaptability. Prefect received a B- in both Manageability and Usability. Prefect did not participate in the RFI process. 

Prefect’s C++ grade in Product Experience was impacted by its C in Reliability where it could enhance its information in relation to performance, scalability and continuity. Customer Experience was impacted by its C+ in TCO/ROI where it could better articulate its strategic value and provide more information in relation to calculating costs.  

Prefect performed best in Customer Experience with a B- grade, notably in Validation where it received a B+ due to its product roadmap as well as references and case studies. In Manageability, technology administration is a strength and led to a B- grade. Prefect’s customization and API support led to its B+ in Adaptability. 

Prefect did not meet the inclusion criteria for the Data Observability Buyers Guide and thus was not included.  

This assessment was based on Prefect Cloud, Version 2.10.18, released June 2023.  

This research-based guide is the most comprehensive assessment of the value of DataOps software in the industry. Technology buyers can learn more about how to use our Buyers Guide by clicking here and included vendors that wish to learn more can click here. Click below to read the individual reports: 

DataOps Buyers Guide 

Data Observability Buyers Guide 

Data Orchestration Buyers Guide 

Data Pipelines Buyers Guide