Datadog · Analyst reports
Gartner Magic Quadrant observability report: what it evaluates and how to use it in a Saudi RFP
The Gartner Magic Quadrant observability report, published as the Magic Quadrant for Observability Platforms, is an analyst's view of a market, not a selection. This guide explains what it evaluates, how procurement and IT teams in Saudi Arabia can use it in an RFP without letting it decide the RFP, and what Datadog publishes about its own placement. Interkey is an official Datadog partner in Saudi Arabia: we sell the licences, implement and support the platform.
Published 10 min read
Orientation
At a glance
The guide in one table, for the reader who has five minutes.
- What the report is
- Gartner's periodic research on the observability platforms market, published as the Magic Quadrant for Observability Platforms
- What it scores
- Each included vendor on two axes: Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision
- What it does not do
- Match a product to your requirements, your budget or your data residency rules
- Where it helps an RFP
- Building a long list, choosing evaluation criteria, and questions on vendor viability
- Companion report
- Gartner's Critical Capabilities research scores products against use cases
- Datadog's statement
- Datadog states it was named a Leader in the 2026 edition, for the sixth consecutive year
- What Interkey does
- Helps write the requirements, runs a proof of concept, sells Datadog licences, implements and supports from Riyadh
In short, for executives
- What it is: an analyst firm's assessment of vendors in one market, at one date. Useful context; not a recommendation for your organisation.
- What it cannot know: your systems, your telemetry volume, your residency rules or who will run the platform.
- How to use it well: as a source of questions and of a long list, then decide with your own criteria and a proof of concept.
- What to avoid: an RFP clause that accepts only one quadrant. Gartner itself says that is not always the right course.
What the Gartner Magic Quadrant observability report evaluates
A Magic Quadrant is Gartner research on one technology market. Gartner selects vendors that meet its inclusion criteria for that market, assesses each one, and places them on a chart with two axes. Its methodology describes the chart as a graphical competitive positioning of four types of providers, in markets where growth is high and the differences between providers are distinct.
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The two axes are built from weighted criteria:
- Ability to Execute: how well a vendor delivers today, including its product or service, overall viability, sales execution and pricing, market responsiveness, customer experience and operations.
- Completeness of Vision: how well a vendor understands where the market is going, including market understanding, marketing and sales strategy, offering strategy, business model, vertical and geographic strategy, and innovation.
Every report has an "as of" date, the day the research was finalised. Gartner notes that events after that date are not reflected in it.
The market covered is platforms that collect and analyse telemetry, such as metrics, logs and traces. If the term is new to your team, start with what is observability.
The Gartner Magic Quadrant for APM, renamed
Buyers still search for the "Gartner Magic Quadrant APM" report. Datadog's 2024 announcement describes the Magic Quadrant for Observability Platforms as formerly known as the Magic Quadrant for APM and Observability. APM and observability buyers now read the same report; an RFP quoting the old name should be updated. Our Datadog APM page covers application monitoring itself.
Relatedwhat is observability
How to read the four quadrants of the observability Magic Quadrant
The descriptions paraphrase Gartner's own methodology. The right-hand column is our reading for a buyer.
| Quadrant | Gartner's description, in short | What it means for your RFP |
|---|---|---|
| Leaders | Execute well against their current vision and are well positioned for the future | Broad capability is likely; check fit, cost and local delivery like any other vendor |
| Challengers | Execute well today, or may dominate a large segment, without showing a clear understanding of market direction | Can be a sound choice for a stable, well-defined need |
| Visionaries | Understand where the market is going, or want to change its rules, but do not yet execute as well | Test delivery maturity and support carefully in the proof of concept |
| Niche Players | Focus successfully on a small segment, or are unfocused and do not out-innovate or outperform others | May fit a narrow requirement better than a broad platform |
Gartner's FAQ adds that Leaders serve broad market requirements and may not meet the needs of a specialised segment, and that a Leader may lack a function you need, cost more, or not support your region. Gartner's methodology page says plainly that "focusing on the leaders' quadrant isn't always the best course of action". Read both on Gartner's methodology page and its Magic Quadrant FAQ.
Why a global report is not enough for an RFP in Saudi Arabia
A Magic Quadrant is written for a worldwide readership. The criteria that most often decide an observability project in the Kingdom are local, and the report is not designed to settle them:
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- Data residency. Telemetry carries more than numbers. Logs and traces can hold user identifiers, request bodies and IP addresses. Whether a SaaS platform hosted outside the Kingdom is acceptable depends on the class of data and the rules your organisation follows, including those of the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA). Our Datadog data residency guide sets out the options.
- Local delivery. Who installs agents, writes dashboards and answers when a monitor fires at night. A report scores the vendor, not the partner doing the work in Riyadh.
- Commercial route. How licences are bought in the Kingdom, in which currency, and who carries the contract and the invoice.
- Language. Whether runbooks, training and handover documents can be written in Arabic for the team that will operate the platform.
- Your own cost model. Observability bills follow hosts, data volume or both. A report cannot model next year's log volume for your estate; our Datadog pricing guide shows how one vendor's bill is built.
RelatedDatadog data residency guide
Three ways to use the observability Magic Quadrant, and their trade-offs
1. As a long-list source
The report names the vendors the analyst considered significant at its date, a reasonable start for a long list. The trade-off: a vendor outside the inclusion criteria, for example on revenue or geographic reach, is absent, not rejected.
2. As a source of evaluation criteria
The two axes and their sub-criteria are a useful checklist of questions: viability, customer experience, product strategy. The trade-off: they are weighted for the whole market. Re-weight them for your own organisation, and add the local criteria above, before they enter the scoring sheet.
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3. As a pass-fail condition
Some RFPs require a product "positioned as a Leader". It is simple to write, but it excludes products that may fit better, ties the RFP to one edition, and Gartner's own guidance does not support it. If you want evidence of viability, ask for it directly: financial statements, years in the market, sector references.
The companion report: Critical Capabilities
Gartner states that a Magic Quadrant helps focus a search but does not give the detail needed to match requirements to a vendor, and points to its Critical Capabilities research, which scores products on specific capabilities from 1 to 5, weighted by use case.
Gartner research is written for Gartner's clients. Vendors named in a report often offer a reprint licensed from Gartner on their own site. Whichever copy you read, check its edition and date.
RFP checklist: what the report answers and what you must test
Use the report for the first column's context; ask bidders for the evidence in the last column.
| RFP question | Does the report answer it? | Evidence to ask for |
|---|---|---|
| Is the vendor viable for the life of the contract? | In part: viability is one execution criterion | Company filings, years in the market, sector references |
| Does it cover the signals we need: metrics, logs, traces, user experience, security? | In general terms only | A proof of concept on your own systems, against named questions |
| What will it cost at next year's volume? | No | A priced model against your host counts and estimated data volume |
| Where will our telemetry be stored and processed? | No | The vendor's documented hosting sites and data handling terms |
| Who implements and supports it in the Kingdom? | No | The local partner's scope, named engineers, support hours and language |
| Does it work with what we already run? | No | The integration list checked against your inventory, tested in the proof of concept |
Our observability evaluation guide works through these questions in more depth, and our monitoring tools guide explains what each kind of tool covers.
Datadog and Gartner: what Datadog states about its placement
The statements below are Datadog's own, from its announcements; they are not Interkey's assessment and not Gartner's endorsement.
- 2026 edition. In an announcement dated 15 July 2026, Datadog states that it was named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Observability Platforms, for the sixth consecutive year.
- 2025 edition. In a press release dated 10 July 2025, Datadog states that it was named a Leader in the 2025 Magic Quadrant for Observability Platforms, dated 8 July 2025, its fifth consecutive year.
- Earlier editions. Datadog's 2024 announcement links the series to the earlier Magic Quadrant for APM and Observability.
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Datadog's announcements carry Gartner's standard disclaimer, which reads in part: "Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications". GARTNER and MAGIC QUADRANT are registered trademarks of Gartner, Inc. and its affiliates. This page does not reproduce the chart.
Relatedan announcement dated 15 July 2026a press release dated 10 July 2025
Where Datadog fits an observability RFP, and where it does not
Whatever any report says, Datadog fits when you want one SaaS platform for infrastructure, APM, logs, real user and synthetic monitoring and security signals, with integrations for cloud services, databases and containers, and a team that wants to tie a slow request to its host, log line and release. Our Datadog implementation page describes what that covers.
Where it does not fit, we say so in the first meeting:
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- Telemetry must stay inside the Kingdom. Datadog is SaaS, and as of November 2026 Datadog lists no site in the Middle East. If a class of telemetry may not leave the Kingdom, that class needs to be filtered out before it is sent, or monitored another way.
- The whole platform must run on your own servers. Datadog is delivered as SaaS: the Agent runs in your environment, but the telemetry is stored and analysed on your Datadog site.
- The need is small and fixed. A few servers with simple up-or-down checks may not need a full platform.
How Interkey helps with an observability evaluation
Interkey helps organisations in Saudi Arabia turn an analyst report into a decision they can defend: requirements written in your terms, with the local criteria; a time-boxed proof of concept on your systems against the questions you named; a cost model at your expected volume; and, if Datadog is chosen, the licences, implementation and support.
Our engineers work from Riyadh, in Arabic and English, so requirement workshops, runbooks and handover documents can be in the language your operations team uses. Our Datadog professional services page describes the services around the licences.
Questions buyers ask about the Gartner Magic Quadrant
Can a Saudi government RFP require a vendor to be a Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader?
It can be written, but it is a weak requirement. It ties the tender to one edition of the report, excludes products that may fit better, and Gartner's own guidance says focusing only on Leaders is not always right. Ask for the evidence you actually need: viability, references, local support and a proof of concept.
Is the Gartner Magic Quadrant for APM the same report as the one for observability platforms?
They are one series under a new name. Datadog's 2024 announcement describes the Magic Quadrant for Observability Platforms as formerly known as the Magic Quadrant for APM and Observability. If your RFP quotes the old title, update it to the current one.
What does Datadog say about its position in the Gartner observability report?
Datadog states that it was named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Observability Platforms, for the sixth consecutive year, in an announcement dated 15 July 2026. That is Datadog's statement; Gartner does not endorse any vendor in its research.
Does the Magic Quadrant consider data residency in Saudi Arabia?
Not for your organisation. Geographic strategy is one of Gartner's vision criteria, but the report does not decide whether a platform meets your residency rules. Check the vendor's documented hosting sites against the class of your telemetry; as of November 2026 Datadog lists no site in the Middle East.
How long does an observability evaluation with a proof of concept usually take?
It is an estimate per project. It depends on the number of systems in scope, how quickly test access and agent installation are approved, and how many teams must agree the criteria. We give an estimate after reading your draft requirements.
Who sells and supports Datadog licences in Saudi Arabia?
Interkey is an official Datadog partner in Saudi Arabia. We sell the licences, implement the platform and provide technical support from Riyadh, in Arabic and English, and we quote licences, set-up and support together.
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Turn the analyst report into RFP requirements
Send us your draft requirements, the systems in scope and any residency rules you follow. We reply with the questions the report answers, the ones only a proof of concept can, and a first scope.
Or directly
+966-11-2180999 [email protected]Tawuniya Towers, North Tower, 7th Floor, King Fahad Highway, Olaya, P.O. Box 56835, Riyadh 11564, Saudi Arabia