Cybersecurity Firm Zscaler Loses Coveted Spot in Gartner Ranking Due to ‘Sales Arrogance’

Competition between the two of  the biggest cybersecurity firms selling software monitoring employee access to cloud applications and data is set to intensify after influential market research firm Gartner cut its ranking on the market leader, Zscaler.

In a regular update about the best positioned firms, Gartner ranked privately held Netskope ahead of its publicly held rival Zscaler, a 16-year old firm which has maintained 50%-plus annual revenue growth over the past few years. It’s rare for private firms to leapfrog more-established public ones in the rankings, according to a former Gartner analyst. Current Gartner analysts said they made the change after hearing complaints from Zscaler customers over the company’s prices and “arrogance” in its sales tactics.