Executive Summary
Key Takeaways
Analytics platforms are evolving from traditional business intelligence tools into AI-enabled decision platforms that combine data preparation, analysis, visualization and automation. Organizations increasingly expect analytics to generate insights, recommend actions and help execute decisions through AI-assisted and agentic workflows. Generative AI, machine learning and embedded collaboration capabilities are expanding analytics accessibility while accelerating data-driven decision-making across the enterprise.
Software Provider Summary
The ISG Buyers Guide™ for Analytics evaluates 22 software providers offering products that support enterprise analytics, AI-assisted insights and decision support. The research ranked the top three overall leaders as Oracle, Domo and IBM. Providers were classified using weighted performance in Product Experience and Customer Experience for ISG quadrant placement. AWS, Databricks, Domo, IBM, Oracle, Qlik, Salesforce and SAP were rated Exemplary, with Microsoft, ServiceNow and Strategy rated Innovative. Google, Infor and ThoughtSpot were rated Assurance, and Alibaba Cloud, Epicor, Idera, insightsoftware, OpenText, SAS, Sisense and Zoho were rated Merit.
Product Experience Insights
Product Experience, representing 80% of the evaluation, focuses on Capability (50%) and Platform (30%) which includes adaptability, manageability, reliability and usability. Oracle, Domo and Microsoft achieved the highest performance as Leaders in this category, supported by analytics capabilities including integration, governance, calculations and query methods combined with AI-assisted analytics and workflow support. Leaders demonstrated enterprise-grade platform capabilities across varied analytics, reporting and decision-support contexts.
Customer Experience Value
Customer Experience, representing 20% of the evaluation, focuses on validation and TCO/ROI. AWS, Oracle and IBM were the Leaders in this category, showing strong customer commitment and clear dedication to customer needs. Providers with lower performance often lacked sufficient information to demonstrate customer success, articulate commitment to customer experience or communicate measurable value through TCO/ROI.
Strategic Recommendations
Organizations should evaluate analytics platforms based on the strength of both the foundational analytics capabilities and AI-enabled decision support. Assessment should prioritize data preparation, governance, collaboration, embedded analytics, natural language interfaces and integration with operational systems. Enterprises should also evaluate provider roadmaps for generative AI, agentic AI and automated insight capabilities that improve productivity while maintaining transparency, governance and trust in analytics-driven decisions.
The Findings
The software providers and products evaluated in this research offer product and customer experiences, but not every feature is equally valuable to every enterprise or is needed to support the relevant business processes and use cases. Moreover, having too many product capabilities may be a negative factor for an enterprise if it introduces unnecessary complexity. Nonetheless, you may decide that a more comprehensive set of capabilities is important and meets your enterprise’s requirements.
An effective customer relationship with a software provider is vital to the success of any investment. The overall customer experience and the full lifecycle of engagement play a key role in ensuring satisfaction and long-term success. Providers with dedicated customer leadership, such as chief customer officers, tend to invest more deeply in these 
relationships and prioritize customer outcomes in line with TCO and ROI expectations. It is equally important that this commitment to customer success is evident throughout the provider’s website, the buying process and the customer journey.
Overall Scoring of Software Providers Across Categories
The research finds Oracle atop the list, followed by Domo and IBM. Providers that place in the top three of a category earn the designation of Leader. Oracle has done so in five categories; Domo in three; AWS and IBM in two; and Databricks, Microsoft and ServiceNow in one category.
Executive Summary
Key Takeaways
Analytics platforms are evolving from traditional business intelligence tools into AI-enabled decision platforms that combine data preparation, analysis, visualization and automation. Organizations increasingly expect analytics to generate insights, recommend actions and help execute decisions through AI-assisted and agentic workflows. Generative AI, machine learning and embedded collaboration capabilities are expanding analytics accessibility while accelerating data-driven decision-making across the enterprise.
Software Provider Summary
The ISG Buyers Guide™ for Analytics evaluates 22 software providers offering products that support enterprise analytics, AI-assisted insights and decision support. The research ranked the top three overall leaders as Oracle, Domo and IBM. Providers were classified using weighted performance in Product Experience and Customer Experience for ISG quadrant placement. AWS, Databricks, Domo, IBM, Oracle, Qlik, Salesforce and SAP were rated Exemplary, with Microsoft, ServiceNow and Strategy rated Innovative. Google, Infor and ThoughtSpot were rated Assurance, and Alibaba Cloud, Epicor, Idera, insightsoftware, OpenText, SAS, Sisense and Zoho were rated Merit.
Product Experience Insights
Product Experience, representing 80% of the evaluation, focuses on Capability (50%) and Platform (30%) which includes adaptability, manageability, reliability and usability. Oracle, Domo and Microsoft achieved the highest performance as Leaders in this category, supported by analytics capabilities including integration, governance, calculations and query methods combined with AI-assisted analytics and workflow support. Leaders demonstrated enterprise-grade platform capabilities across varied analytics, reporting and decision-support contexts.
Customer Experience Value
Customer Experience, representing 20% of the evaluation, focuses on validation and TCO/ROI. AWS, Oracle and IBM were the Leaders in this category, showing strong customer commitment and clear dedication to customer needs. Providers with lower performance often lacked sufficient information to demonstrate customer success, articulate commitment to customer experience or communicate measurable value through TCO/ROI.
Strategic Recommendations
Organizations should evaluate analytics platforms based on the strength of both the foundational analytics capabilities and AI-enabled decision support. Assessment should prioritize data preparation, governance, collaboration, embedded analytics, natural language interfaces and integration with operational systems. Enterprises should also evaluate provider roadmaps for generative AI, agentic AI and automated insight capabilities that improve productivity while maintaining transparency, governance and trust in analytics-driven decisions.
The Findings
The software providers and products evaluated in this research offer product and customer experiences, but not every feature is equally valuable to every enterprise or is needed to support the relevant business processes and use cases. Moreover, having too many product capabilities may be a negative factor for an enterprise if it introduces unnecessary complexity. Nonetheless, you may decide that a more comprehensive set of capabilities is important and meets your enterprise’s requirements.
An effective customer relationship with a software provider is vital to the success of any investment. The overall customer experience and the full lifecycle of engagement play a key role in ensuring satisfaction and long-term success. Providers with dedicated customer leadership, such as chief customer officers, tend to invest more deeply in these relationships and prioritize customer outcomes in line with TCO and ROI expectations. It is equally important that this commitment to customer success is evident throughout the provider’s website, the buying process and the customer journey.
Overall Scoring of Software Providers Across Categories
The research finds Oracle atop the list, followed by Domo and IBM. Providers that place in the top three of a category earn the designation of Leader. Oracle has done so in five categories; Domo in three; AWS and IBM in two; and Databricks, Microsoft and ServiceNow in one category.
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