IMS Vendor Matrix

In this Vendor Matrix, ABI Research evaluates the top vendors in the IMS market. Specifically, the evaluation is done by examining vendors’ abilities to supply a full range of IMS system elements, and their engagement with the rest of the vendor community. This is an important element as it boosts an operator’s confidence in compatibility and interoperability as well as future product support. There are two main criteria on which we base this assessment: Innovation and Implementation. Each has been weighted to give a total score out of 100.

The Implementation score is derived by looking at how well the vendor is equipped to supply a complete system, (either alone or with partners), its announced orders or trials, and its abilities as a system integrator. There are caveats because some trials or orders may not be public knowledge, and vendors may be able to provide more resources through partnerships, which, again, may remain undisclosed because of confidentiality. This assessment is made at a specific time and as the industry is developing quickly ,it must be read with that in mind.

The Innovation score is derived from measuring the system vendor’s R&D budget and the number of industry partnerships it has within the IMS industry. ABI Research has not been able to measure the specific IMS portion of a vendor’s R&D budget so the assessment is based on the total budget. Also, the research may not have identified all a vendor's partnerships because of confidentiality agreements.

Top 10 Listing:


Rankings



After individual scores are established for Innovation and Implementation using the above criteria, an overall company score is established using the Root Mean Square (RMS) method:




The resulting overall scores are then ranked and used for percentile comparisons.

The RMS method, in comparison with a straight summation or average of individual innovation and implementation values, rewards companies for standout performance.

For example, using this method a company with an innovation score of 9 and an implementation score of 1 would score considerably higher than a company with a score of 5 in both areas, despite the mean score being the same. ABI Research believes this is appropriate as the goal of these matrices is to highlight those companies that stand out from the others.