Gartner’s Report on Software Engineering Intelligence Platforms 2024

Introduction

As a leading vendor in the software engineering intelligence (SEI) platform space, we at Typo, are pleased to present this summary report. This document synthesizes key findings from Gartner’s comprehensive analysis and incorporates our own insights to help you better understand the evolving landscape of SEI platforms. Our aim is to provide clarity on the benefits, challenges, and future directions of these platforms, highlighting their potential to revolutionize software engineering productivity and value delivery.

Overview

The Software Engineering Intelligence (SEI) platform market is rapidly growing, driven by the increasing need for software engineering leaders to use data to demonstrate their teams’ value. According to Gartner, this nascent market offers significant potential despite its current size. However, leaders face challenges such as fragmented data across multiple systems and concerns over adding new tools that may be perceived as micromanagement by their teams.

Key Findings

1. Market Growth and Challenges

  • The SEI platform market is expanding but remains in its early stages.
  • With many vendors offering similar capabilities, software engineering leaders find it challenging to navigate this evolving market.
  • There is pressure to use data to showcase team value, but data is often scattered across various systems, complicating its collection and analysis.
  • Leaders are cautious about introducing new tools into an already crowded landscape, fearing it could be seen as micromanagement, potentially eroding trust.

2. Value of SEI Platforms

  • SEI platforms can significantly enhance the collection and analysis of software engineering data, helping track key indicators of product success like value creation and developer productivity. According to McKinsey & Company, high-performing organizations utilize data-driven insights to boost developer productivity and achieve superior business outcomes.
  • These platforms offer a comprehensive view of engineering processes, enabling continuous improvement and better business alignment.

3. Market Adoption Projections

  • SEI platform adoption is projected to rise significantly, from 5% in 2024 to 50% by 2027, as organizations seek to leverage data for increased productivity and value delivery.
SEI platform adoption

4. Platform Capabilities

  • SEI platforms provide data-driven visibility into engineering teams’ use of time and resources, operational effectiveness, and progress on deliverables. They integrate data from common engineering tools and systems, offering tailored, role-specific user experiences.
  • Key capabilities include data collection, analysis, reporting, and dashboard creation. Advanced features such as AI/ML-driven insights and conversational interfaces are becoming increasingly prevalent, helping reduce cognitive load and manual tasks.

Recommendations

Proof of Concept (POC)

  • Engage in POC processes to verify that SEI platforms can drive measurable improvements.
  • This step ensures the chosen platform can provide actionable insights that lead to better outcomes.

Improve Data Collection and Analysis

  • Utilize SEI platforms to track essential metrics and demonstrate the value delivered by engineering teams.
  • Effective data collection and analysis are crucial for visibility into software engineering trends and for boosting productivity.

Avoid Micromanagement Perceptions

  • Involve both teams and managers in the evaluation process to ensure the platform meets everyone’s needs, mitigating fears of micromanagement.
  • Gartner emphasizes the importance of considering the needs of both practitioners and leaders to ensure broad acceptance and utility.

Strategic Planning Assumption

By 2027, the use of SEI platforms by software engineering organizations to increase developer productivity is expected to rise to 50%, up from 5% in 2024, driven by the necessity to deliver quantifiable value through data-driven insights.

Market Definition

Gartner defines SEI platforms as solutions that provide software engineering leaders with data-driven visibility into their teams’ use of time and resources, operational effectiveness, and progress on deliverables. These platforms must ingest and analyze signals from common engineering tools, offering tailored user experiences for easy data querying and trend identification.

Market Direction and Trends

Increasing Interest

There is growing interest in SEI platforms and engineering metrics. Gartner notes that client interactions on these topics doubled from 2022 to 2023, reflecting a surge in demand for data-driven insights in software engineering.

Competitive Dynamics

Existing DevOps and agile planning tools are evolving to include SEI-type features, creating competitive pressure and potential market consolidation. Vendors are integrating more sophisticated dashboards, reporting, and insights, impacting the survivability of standalone SEI platform vendors.

AI-Powered Features

SEI platforms are increasingly incorporating AI to reduce cognitive load, automate tasks, and provide actionable insights. According to Forrester, AI-driven insights can significantly enhance software quality and team efficiency by enabling proactive management strategies.

Adoption Drivers

Visibility into Engineering Data

Crucial for boosting developer productivity and achieving business outcomes. High-performing organizations leverage tools that track and report engineering metrics to enhance productivity.

Tooling Rationalization

SEI platforms can potentially replace multiple existing tools, serving as the main dashboard for engineering leadership. This consolidation simplifies the tooling landscape and enhances efficiency.

Efficiency Focus

With increased operating budgets, there is a strong focus on tools that drive efficient and effective execution, helping engineering teams improve delivery and meet performance objectives.

Market Analysis

SEI platforms address several common use cases:

Reporting and Benchmarking

Provide data-driven answers to questions about team activities and performance. Collecting and conditioning data from various engineering tools enables effective dashboards and reports, facilitating benchmarking against industry standards.

Insight Discovery

Generate insights through multivariate analysis of normalized data, such as correlations between quality and velocity. These insights help leaders make informed decisions to drive better outcomes.

Recommendations

Deliver actionable insights backed by recommendations. Tools may suggest policy changes or organizational structures to improve metrics like lead times. According to DORA, organizations leveraging key metrics like Deployment Frequency and Lead Time for Changes tend to have higher software delivery performance.

Improving Developer Productivity with Tools and Metrics

SEI platforms significantly enhance Developer Productivity by offering a unified view of engineering activities, enabling leaders to make informed decisions. Key benefits include:

Enhanced Visibility

SEI platforms provide a comprehensive view of engineering processes, helping leaders identify inefficiencies and areas for improvement.

Data-Driven Decisions

By collecting and analyzing data from various tools, SEI platforms offer insights that drive smarter business decisions.

Continuous Improvement

Organizations can use insights from SEI platforms to continually adjust and improve their processes, leading to higher quality software and more productive teams. This aligns with IEEE’s emphasis on benchmarking for achieving software engineering excellence.

Industry Benchmarking

SEI platforms enable benchmarking against industry standards, helping teams set realistic goals and measure their progress. This continuous improvement cycle drives sustained productivity gains.

User Experience and Customization

Personalization and customization are critical for SEI platforms, ensuring they meet the specific needs of different user personas. Tailored user experiences lead to higher adoption rates and better user satisfaction, as highlighted by IDC.

Inference

The SEI platform market is poised for significant growth, driven by the need for data-driven insights into software engineering processes. These platforms offer substantial benefits, including enhanced visibility, data-driven decision-making, and continuous improvement. As the market matures, SEI platforms will become indispensable tools for software engineering leaders, helping them demonstrate their teams’ value and drive productivity gains.

Top Representative Players in SEI

SEI

Are you considering adopting SEI recommended DORA metrics to enhance development visibility and performance outcomes?

Conclusion

SEI platforms represent a transformative opportunity for software engineering organizations. By leveraging these platforms, organizations can gain a competitive edge, delivering higher quality software and achieving better business outcomes. The integration of AI and machine learning further enhances these platforms’ capabilities, providing actionable insights that drive continuous improvement. As adoption increases, SEI platforms will play a crucial role in the future of software engineering, enabling leaders to make data-driven decisions and boost developer productivity.

Sources

  1. Gartner. (2024). “Software Engineering Intelligence Platforms Market Guide”.
  2. McKinsey & Company. (2023). “The State of Developer Productivity“.
  3. DevOps Research and Assessment (DORA). (2023). “Accelerate: State of DevOps Report”.
  4. Forrester Research. (2023). “AI in Software Development: Enhancing Efficiency and Quality”.
  5. IEEE Software. (2023). “Benchmarking for Software Engineering Excellence”.
  6. IDC. (2023). “Personalization in Software Engineering Tools: Driving Adoption and Satisfaction”.