In early 2024, Cloudian made a strategic decision to opt out of the upcoming Gartner MQ for File and Object Storage.
Our rationale to opt out was clear: the Gartner MQ increasingly diverges from the needs and priorities of our customers. Over recent years, this MQ has progressively emphasized file storage features while marginalizing the unique strengths of object storage, which remain core to Cloudian’s offering.
This emphasis on file capabilities does not resonate with Cloudian’s customer base, most of whom focus on the S3 API object storage capabilities that Cloudian offers. To them, evaluating a solution based primarily on its file-centric features is akin to choosing between a Porsche and a Ferrari based on who manufactures the better wristwatch—it’s simply irrelevant.
Despite consistently receiving top ratings in Gartner Peer Insights—where feedback comes directly from object storage users—Cloudian has never been positioned in the upper right quadrant of the MQ. This discrepancy suggests that the analysts’ criteria are misaligned with the priorities of those who actually deploy and rely on our solutions.
The most recent 2023 MQ made Gartner’s bias towards file systems especially clear. Vendors specializing in object storage were systematically downgraded compared to their 2022 positions, while those focusing on file storage either improved or retained their placements.
This year, we expect the bias to be even more pronounced, as Gartner has removed the word “Distributed” from the report’s title. The former “Distributed File Systems and Object Storage” report is now labeled simply “File and Object Storage Platforms.” This shift reflects a movement towards traditional file solutions and away from the highly scalable, distributed architectures that are foundational to object storage.
It is important to note that in the upcoming report, Gartner will claim that Cloudian did not meet the inclusion criteria. This claim is questionable on its face. Regardless, while the criteria for 2024 were indeed changed from previous years, we had already informed Gartner of our decision to opt out before the MQ process even began.
Gartner’s historical bias against object storage is not new. Over the years, key Cloudian features that differentiate our solution have been routinely overlooked. Critical capabilities—such as multi-tenancy, robust security, quality of service (QoS), integrated billing, geo-distribution, and our proven scalability—are consistently undervalued or ignored in their evaluations. These are precisely the capabilities that our customers demand, yet they scarcely factor into the MQ’s assessment criteria.
We would always welcome the opportunity to work with the Gartner analysts in a comparison that evaluates object storage on its true merits—without conflating it with other technologies like NAS. If Gartner can provide a fair, relevant comparison—one that values Ferrari for being a Ferrari rather than for its ability to tell time—we would be more than willing to engage.
Learn more about Cloudian at cloudian.com.