Achieving First-Time Gartner Magic Quadrant Inclusion

Context

LiveTiles faced a credibility challenge in enterprise sales. Despite having competitive digital workplace capabilities, the company lacked recognition from industry analysts like Gartner. Enterprise buyers consistently requested analyst validation before moving forward with procurement, creating friction in deals that our sales team couldn’t overcome through product demonstrations alone.

The Gartner Magic Quadrant represented the gold standard for digital workplace software evaluation. Inclusion would validate LiveTiles’ capabilities to enterprise IT buyers, open doors to larger opportunities, and differentiate us from competitors without analyst backing. But achieving inclusion required more than strong technology. Gartner evaluated vendors on completeness of vision and ability to execute, assessing everything from product roadmap to go-to-market execution to customer satisfaction.

The challenge went beyond checking evaluation boxes. LiveTiles’ positioning had become fragmented through acquisitions, making it difficult to articulate a cohesive platform narrative. Our product portfolio included seven separate offerings with unclear relationships, confusing both customers and analysts about what LiveTiles actually delivered. Sales and marketing messaging varied across regions, creating inconsistent market perception that undermined our credibility.

The stakes were high. Without analyst recognition, we couldn’t compete effectively in enterprise deals. Competitors with Gartner placement used it as a closing tool, positioning LiveTiles as an unproven alternative. We needed analyst validation to level the playing field and unlock enterprise pipeline growth.

Approach

As Head of Product Marketing, I led the 12-16 month strategic initiative with a hypothesis: achieving Gartner inclusion required solving positioning clarity before engaging analysts. We couldn’t articulate our completeness of vision until we defined that vision coherently.

I started by recognizing this project built on foundational work. The portfolio repackaging from seven products to one unified platform created the product narrative Gartner needed to evaluate. The repositioning from employee experience platform to Enterprise Intranet for M365 gave us clear category placement within Gartner’s evaluation framework. These earlier initiatives weren’t just internal reorganization, they were prerequisites for analyst credibility.

The strategic approach centered on three pillars: positioning clarity, analyst engagement, and cross-functional alignment.

For positioning clarity, I developed a comprehensive market positioning framework that defined our target markets, identified key differentiators against competitors, and created messaging that resonated with enterprise buyers. This framework unified regional variations and gave analysts a consistent story about LiveTiles’ market position and strategic direction.

The market research informed every decision. I utilized Gartner Priorities Navigator to understand tech buying behavior and validated our positioning against actual enterprise decision criteria. This research revealed what mattered to CIOs evaluating digital workplace solutions, allowing us to frame capabilities in language that aligned with their priorities.

Product alignment required close collaboration with product teams. I worked with product leadership to ensure roadmap development reflected market trends Gartner valued. This meant identifying capability gaps in our evaluation story and influencing product priorities to address them. The goal wasn’t changing our strategy to chase Gartner criteria but articulating how our existing strategy aligned with market needs Gartner measured.

Analyst engagement required systematic preparation. I coordinated analyst briefings, prepared comprehensive product documentation, assembled customer references, and coached executives on positioning consistency. Each interaction needed to reinforce our completeness of vision and ability to execute across all evaluation dimensions.

Cross-functional alignment was critical. Product teams needed to understand how roadmap decisions impacted analyst perception. Sales leadership needed to provide customer references demonstrating market traction. Marketing needed to show demand generation capability. Customer success needed to prove support quality. I coordinated across all functions to present a unified story to Gartner analysts.

Solution

I executed the Gartner positioning initiative across four integrated workstreams: positioning foundation, analyst materials, cross-functional coordination, and ongoing engagement.

The positioning foundation built on the portfolio repackaging work. I translated the simplified product structure (one platform with Active Directory expansion) into a coherent vision story for analysts. The Enterprise Intranet for M365 positioning gave Gartner clear category placement rather than ambiguous employee experience messaging that could mean anything.

I developed comprehensive documentation articulating LiveTiles’ market position, competitive differentiation, and strategic direction. This included detailed positioning decks showing our place in the digital workplace landscape, competitive comparison matrices demonstrating technical differentiation, product roadmap presentations illustrating vision completeness, and customer segmentation frameworks proving market understanding.

The analyst briefing strategy involved multiple touchpoints beyond formal evaluation. I scheduled regular briefings with Gartner analysts covering market trends, product updates, and strategic initiatives. These ongoing conversations built relationships and kept LiveTiles visible between evaluation cycles, creating familiarity that formal submissions alone couldn’t achieve.

Customer reference preparation required careful curation. I identified enterprise customers across industries and geographies demonstrating successful implementations, coordinated customer participation in Gartner inquiries, and prepared case materials highlighting business outcomes rather than technical features. The reference portfolio proved both ability to execute and market traction.

Cross-functional alignment involved coordinating across product, sales, marketing, and customer success. I created alignment sessions ensuring everyone understood the Gartner narrative, developed internal playbooks for analyst interactions, and established governance for customer reference management. This coordination prevented conflicting messages that could undermine evaluation credibility.

The website messaging and redesign reflected the new positioning externally. I led a comprehensive website refresh translating the internal positioning framework into customer-facing messaging. This demonstrated market execution consistency between what we told analysts and what prospects saw, reinforcing ability to execute on our stated vision.

Throughout execution, I maintained continuous communication with product leadership about roadmap decisions, sales leadership about customer reference availability, and executive team about analyst engagement timing. The coordination ensured LiveTiles presented consistent positioning across every analyst touchpoint.

Results

The strategic initiative delivered first-time Gartner Magic Quadrant inclusion and measurable business impact.

LiveTiles achieved inclusion in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for digital workplace solutions, validating our market position and technical capabilities against established competitors. This recognition represented a significant credibility milestone for a company that had struggled with fragmented positioning from multiple acquisitions.

Pipeline increased 207% following Gartner inclusion. The analyst validation unlocked enterprise opportunities that previously stalled during procurement evaluation. Sales teams reported faster deal progression as IT buyers accepted Gartner placement as third-party validation, reducing the need for extensive proof of concept cycles to establish credibility.

The positioning clarity created benefits beyond Gartner inclusion. Regional teams aligned on consistent messaging, eliminating the variations that had confused prospects. Sales enablement improved as reps could articulate a coherent platform story rather than explaining seven separate products. Marketing execution became more effective with unified positioning guiding all campaigns.

Customer references developed for Gartner evaluation became reusable assets across sales and marketing. The case materials proved valuable in enterprise sales cycles, analyst inquiries, and thought leadership content. The investment in reference development delivered returns beyond the initial Gartner submission.

The cross-functional alignment process established ongoing collaboration patterns. Product, marketing, and sales teams developed shared understanding of market positioning and competitive differentiation. This alignment supported subsequent product launches and marketing initiatives with clearer strategic direction.

Beyond quantitative impact, the Gartner inclusion shifted LiveTiles’ market perception. We moved from an M&A-driven collection of tools to a recognized platform player in digital workplace solutions. The analyst validation gave enterprise buyers confidence to include LiveTiles in vendor evaluations, fundamentally changing our competitive positioning.

The project demonstrated that analyst recognition requires foundational positioning work before formal engagement. The portfolio simplification and positioning clarity enabled the Gartner narrative. Without that foundation, no amount of analyst briefings would have achieved inclusion.