What is a service orchestration automation platform (SOAP)?

According to Gartner, a Service Orchestration and Automation Platform (SOAP) is described as follows: “Service orchestration and automation platforms are essential for delivering business services through complex workloads. SOAPs unify workflow orchestration, workload automation and resource provisioning, extending across data pipelines and cloud-native architectures.” SOAPs adapt to use cases for application architectures, cloud-native infrastructure and data pipelines. Thus, they complement DevOps initiatives and integrate with toolchains to standardize digital business processes. Infrastructure and operations leaders (I&O leaders) can use SOAPs to design and implement business services with customer-focused agility, improving SLA outcomes and reducing operational costs.

What is the Gartner Magic Quadrant™?

“A Magic Quadrant™ provides a graphical competitive positioning of four types of technology providers in markets where growth is high and provider differentiation is distinct: Leaders execute well against their current vision and are well-positioned for tomorrow. Visionaries understand where the market is going or have a vision for changing market rules, but do not yet execute well. Niche Players focus successfully on a small segment or are unfocused and do not out-innovate or outperform others. Challengers execute well today or may dominate a large segment but do not demonstrate an understanding of market direction." Source: Gartner Magic Quadrant Research Methodology

Redwood Software, parent company of Tidal, was again named a Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for SOAP Leader. Get the report

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Redwood Software named a Leader in Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for SOAP second year in a row

Gartner® has again recognized Redwood Software as a Leader in the 2025 Magic Quadrant™ for SOAP report.Get the report

Positioned furthest in Completeness of Vision

In our opinion, Redwood’s position as furthest in Completeness of Vision is built on a 30-year foundation of automation expertise and more than a decade of delivering Service Orchestration and Automation Platform (SOAP) capabilities as SaaS. We believe this commitment to forward-thinking innovation ensures our customers are ready to optimize their IT environments for the evolving automation and AI landscape, leveraging capabilities like AI-powered observability to stay ahead of potential issues.

Positioned highest for Ability to Execute

Positioned highest for Ability to Execute, we believe Redwood offers proven automation solutions for today’s complex IT operations and business ecosystem, orchestrating mission-critical end-to-end business and IT processes at the world’s leading companies. We feel Redwood’s dedication to reliable, real-world results enables IT teams and business users with the functionality to achieve tangible business outcomes and true scalability.

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Get the Gartner Magic Quadrant™ for SOAP report

A Gartner Magic Quadrant™ is a culmination of research in a specific market, giving you a wide-angle view of the relative positions of the market’s competitors.

We believe being recognized as a Leader for the second year in a row is a direct result of the powerful intersection of customer obsession, forward-thinking vision and relentless execution.

Download the complete report to see the full analysis, discover why Redwood was recognized as a Leader and streamline the process of selecting the best partner for your digital transformation journey.

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Gartner SOAP FAQs

What is a service orchestration automation platform (SOAP)?

According to Gartner, a Service Orchestration and Automation Platform (SOAP) is described as follows: “Service orchestration and automation platforms are essential for delivering business services through complex workloads. SOAPs unify workflow orchestration, workload automation and resource provisioning, extending across data pipelines and cloud-native architectures.”

SOAPs adapt to use cases for application architectures, cloud-native infrastructure and data pipelines. Thus, they complement DevOps initiatives and integrate with toolchains to standardize digital business processes.

Infrastructure and operations leaders (I&O leaders) can use SOAPs to design and implement business services with customer-focused agility, improving SLA outcomes and reducing operational costs.
What is the Gartner Magic Quadrant™?
“A Magic Quadrant™ provides a graphical competitive positioning of four types of technology providers in markets where growth is high and provider differentiation is distinct:
- Leaders execute well against their current vision and are well-positioned for tomorrow.
- Visionaries understand where the market is going or have a vision for changing market rules, but do not yet execute well.
- Niche Players focus successfully on a small segment or are unfocused and do not out-innovate or outperform others.
- Challengers execute well today or may dominate a large segment but do not demonstrate an understanding of market direction."
Source: Gartner Magic Quadrant Research Methodology

Gartner, Inc. Magic Quadrant for Service Orchestration and Automation Platforms. Hassan Ennaciri, Daniel Betts, Cameron Haight, Chris Saunderson, etl. 26 Aug 2025.

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

These graphics were published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from https://www.tidalsoftware.com/resources/report/gartner-soap-magic-quadrant