Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Tools

Data Integration Tools are strategic basics for enterprise data management. In the picture below you can see a global view of the market of the main Data Integration Tools software vendors prepared by Gartner, Inc. - the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. 

The discipline of data integration comprises the practices, architectural techniques and tools for achieving consistent access to, and delivery of, data across the spectrum of data subject areas and data structure types in the enterprise, to meet the data consumption requirements of all applications and business processes. As such, data integration capabilities are at the heart of the information-centric infrastructure and will power the frictionless sharing of data across all organizational and system boundaries. Contemporary pressures are leading to an increased investment in data integration in all industries and geographic regions. Business drivers, such as the imperative for speed to market and agility to change business processes and models, are forcing organizations to manage their data assets differently. Simplification of processes and the IT infrastructure are necessary to achieve transparency, and transparency requires a consistent and complete view of the data, which represents the performance and operation of the business. Data integration is a critical component of an overall enterprise information management (EIM) strategy that can address these data-oriented issues.

Source: Gartner (September 2008)