top_wcm_providersGartner‘s recently released Magic Quadrant for Web Content Management evaluates 19 top Web Content Management (WCM) solution providers, by listing strengths and cautions for each. The report makes up about 30 pages, so we‘ve tried to summarize the findings for our readers in the following:

Visionaries

1 remains absent from almost all the shortlists presented by North American customers, needs to increase its marketing investment there and urgently develop a broader supporting ecosystem if it is to have a reasonable chance of competing effectively in this region.

needs to improve its overall value proposition and capabilities with respect to interoperability with adjacent technologies.

GX has improved the usability of its offerings, but still compares poorly in this respect with some of the vendors in this Magic Quadrant. It must make usability an even higher priority and invest in creating the kind of interface and user experience that will appeal strongly to non-IT professionals.

Vendor

Strengths

Cautions

Acquia prominent Drupal business, enterprise support, cloud-hosting, Drupal Gardens (SaaS) version

    1 provides well-received services for Drupal, one of the most popular open-source software (OSS) WCM platforms

    2 understands enterprise requirements and at the same time ensures excellent relations with the broader Drupal community

    3 helps with broader online channel strategy by integrating the social component Acquia Commons

    1 lags behind in terms of deep marketing-oriented capabilities

    2 providing a leading OSS WCM services environment brings a responsibility to develop a substantially advanced vision for this area, Acquia has yet to rise fully to the challenge

    3 needs to invest more strategically and determinedly in the partner ecosystem around Drupal

GX Software

offers two Java-based products relevant to OCO: WebManager, a WCM offering, and BlueConic, a product designed to help increase engagement across multiple online channels

    1 combination of WCM and BlueConic, the functions they provide are combined routinely as part of an overall cross-channel strategy with real-time dynamic profiling and delivery.

    2 recent partnership with Pitney Bowes, promises to offer a "communications continuum". Such a concept would help ensure greater communications continuity and optimization across channels, and create new opportunities on the fringes of customer communication management

    3 accurate understanding of the WCM market, the drivers of purchasing decisions for WCM and the vertical contexts in which those decisions are made, continues to grow at a promising rate.

    1 remains absent from almost all the shortlists presented by North American customers, needs to increase its marketing investment there and urgently develop a broader supporting ecosystem if it is to have a reasonable chance of competing effectively in this region.

    2 needs to improve its overall value proposition and capabilities with respect to interoperability with adjacent technologies.

    3 GX has improved the usability of its offerings, but still compares poorly in this respect with some of the vendors in this Magic Quadrant. It must make usability an even higher priority and invest in creating the kind of interface and user experience that will appeal strongly to non-IT professionals.

CoreMedia

german company, evolved from a Niche Player in 2009 to become a provider of scalable, robust solutions in multiple regions with an impressive customer base and a high retention rate.

    1 high usability, Studio editorial interface appeals to both business and IT professionals, well architected, high degree of interoperability with adjacent technologies, delivers dynamic experiences that can be contextually optimized in real time for different audiences.

    2 expanded its partner ecosystem to incorporate high-level cooperation agreements with companies such as SAP, IBM and T-Systems into its overall marketing message.

    3 placed high strategic value on the importance of social media in the context of content management. Introduced it‘s Elastic Social product 2012, highly flexible and extensible platform integrated into CoreMedia's CMS

    1 faces challenges in terms of geographical expansion outside Europe, capabilities would often suit the listed requirements well, but is not considered. Needs to invest in its overall marketing strategy and expand to North America and Australia.

    2 being a best-of-breed Java CMS is not enough, needs a broader solution picture, needs more strategic partnerships with key vendors in Web analytics, marketing automation, CRM and multichannel campaign management.

    3 needs to place a greater marketing emphasis on such scenarios and present more case studies showing where it brings value to architectural landscapes that are highly heterogeneous.

EPiServer

based on .NET, continues to add marketing and sales functions to its WCM product that is used by its related social software and e-commerce products, also offers a degree of contextual content delivery across its core products.

    1 modular and well-architected  capabilities, ease of use and rich functions are among the best available. Graphical user interface, can easily tailor experiences to different touchpoints, e.g. media tablets, smartphones and traditional websites.

    2 established itself as an enterprise-class vendor with clear and highly competitive prices, it‘s modular architecture enables add-ons, e.g. Social Reach, SiteAttention, and a Google Analytics add-on

    3 aims to increase the proportion of its revenue derived from U.K., Western Europe and North America and from its partner ecosystem. The new EPiServer Find, will help EPiServer handle "big data," including large volumes of social and mobile content.

    1 needs to close the gap in terms of marketing-related capabilities, partial customer confusion about integration with CRM and ERP

    2 does not exploit its potential in the SharePoint ecosystem, needs to adjust its high-level messaging so that it is considered more often

    3 some North American customeRS still view EPiServer as "remote“, has recently modified its sales strategy to be more direct in North America, this new approach has not yet gained as much traction as its competitors.

 

Niche Players

Vendor

Strengths

Cautions

Dynamicweb

WCM and e-commerce, has steadily increased the interoperability of its offering in order to be considered by larger organizations that require more complex solutions. Its flagship product includes an Online Marketing Center.

    1 WCM, e-commerce and marketing functionalities based on .NET in an environment whose popularity is driven by Microsoft SharePoint. Able to interoperate with other Microsoft products, such as CRM and ERP

    2 has placed more emphasis on the North American market and restructured accordingly. Well positioned for wholesalers and manufacturers, that need to manage product information and integrate heavily with ERP

    3 competitive pricing presents an additional competitive advantage

    1 only recently introduced capabilities in digital marketing, capabilities may not be sufficient for organizations with high ambitions in digital marketing. Does the lower price compensate for the present lack of capabilities?

    2 needs to raise its brand recognition, prospects should assess the partners and consulting resources available locally.

    3 needs to invest more aggressively in its overall marketing strategy, it rarely appears on shortlists

Atex

long history in editorial content management, advertising, subscriptions and support for digital strategies. Entered the WCM market with the acquisition of Polopoly in 2008.

    1 excellent understanding of the media industry, is therefore in a prime position to be shortlisted by media companies that are developing or expanding a digital strategy.

    2 has a reputation for stability and longevity — two highly coveted attributes in a market that has become somewhat more risk-averse due to the macroeconomic troubles of the past few years.

    3 very loyal customer base, as in many cases the company has established itself as a trusted advisor to its clients, who praised it highly for its transparency, openness and understanding of clients' issues.

    1 needs to be significantly more aggressive in its horizontal expansion. Atex must nurture and embrace opportunities outside its current comfort zone.

    2 needs to increase investment in product development and accelerate its progress, particularly with regard to interoperability with adjacent technologies outside its own portfolio.

    3 usability still lags behind, needs to improve usability for non-IT-users. Its focus on the role of "editor" needs to broaden to include a variety of business users, particularly those involved in developing digital marketing strategies.

eZ Systems

offers a WCM platform both on a commercial open-source basis and as SaaS., added recommendation and personalization capabilities to its portfolio with the acquisition of German firm Yoochoose and, in October 2011, Web analytics with the acquisition of odoscope. Both acquisitions are now fully integrated as part of eZ Systems' strategy of building a platform in which WCM is the kernel.

    1 well-led, forward-thinking, carefully managed and strongly driven company, with a top-down and a bottom-up understanding of the WCM market. Its commercially supported open-source model enables customers to save on license fees

    2 almost complete portfolio for "full life cycle management of digital presences", expanding with modules such as eZ Recommendation Service, eZ ecommerce, eZ CRM Connectivity, eZ odoscope (analytics, testing and optimization) and eZ Find, combined with a high degree of interoperability through (REST) interfaces.

    3 has been very successful in embracing the open-source culture but not relying too much on it. Also available as a fully managed cloud-based solution. eZ Market, a commercial hub for vendor-certified extensions, has gained momentum and provides an attractive additional business model

    1 strong publishing orientation  won't instantly appeal to every organization, the relevance of ez System's focus may not be obvious to some companies, needs to expand its marketing activities in order to emphasize its message both horizontally and vertically.

    2 is a relatively small organization, with 110 employees in 10 locations, it is still relatively unknown outside the publishing and telecom industries, rarely appears on longlists and shortlists. Needs to increase its investment in marketing, brand recognition and sales execution, especially in North America.

    3 overall set of capabilities remains modest in comparison with other vendors, needs to invest more heavily in product development and devise a more ambitious product road map, particularly for marketing-friendly capabilities and contextualized delivery of tailored experiences.

Limelight Networks

entered the WCM market through its May 2011 acquisition of Clickability, a provider of a SaaS-based WCM offering. It markets this offering as the Limelight Dynamic Site Platform. Limelight's product portfolio also covers small-object delivery, video content management, website and application acceleration, mobile delivery and monetization, electronic software downloads, and live and on-demand media delivery.

    1 offers a good combination of WCM with video and content delivery network (CDN) capabilities in a market that needs to "bring all the pieces together." The "Orchestrate brilliance" tagline could resonate well with organizations developing an OCO strategy. Limelight is No. 2 in the CDN market and is the only vendor to offer both WCM and online video natively.

    2 one of the few "pure SaaS" vendors of WCM, it can effectively present "a single throat to choke". The role of pure SaaS provider is distinct from, and usually superior to single-tenant software solutions.

    3 road map appears very well aligned with developments in the WCM market, has launched capabilities to be even more appealing for those developing a digital marketing strategy, e.g. Website Marketing Acceleration (WMA), social media publishing and Dynamic Site Platform for Mobile.

    1 will need to sustain double-digit growth in its WCM business and improve its profitability to allay clients' concerns on the financial status. Organizations seeking assurances about Limelight's ability to invest in its road map and innovate effectively should work with it to ensure their concerns are addressed.

    2 reduction in the market interest that Clickability used to generate, Dynamic Site Platform rarely appears on shortlists, even where there is emphasis is on SaaS WCM. It must communicate its message of orchestration more effectively so that both business and IT managers perceive as relevant.

    3 needs to revise its go-to-market strategy, regarding associations and partnerships, the high-level value proposition it is articulating and the roles it should address within its target organizations.

e-Spirit

FirstSpirit CMS, Java-based WCM

    1 works in conjunction with other Web foundations, such as IBM WebSphere Portal, IBM WebSphere Commerce and SAP NetWeaver Portal, attractive for customers looking for WCM to complement an established portal or e-commerce foundation.

    2 emerging player in a market where demand for best-of-breed enterprise-class Java WCM offerings has been growing but supply has been shrinking.

    3 the AppCenter has increased the usability of its product, particularly for non-IT users, enabling smooth interoperability

    1 focuses too much on technology in a market where the decision makers are non-IT, needs to be more aggressive and incisive about differentiating itself

    2 has yet to establish a significant footprint in North America

    3 urgently needs to broaden the value proposition for its social capabilities, it does offer interaction with Facebook, Twitter and the like, and also enables some aspects of social collaboration, it is significantly behind other vendors

Squiz

markets a PHP offering called Squiz Suite, which consists of WCM, search (via the acquisition of Funnelback) and analytics (built on Google Analytics).

    1 has transformed an open-source company that focused primarily on technology and consulting services into one that is more client-centric and focused on providing business solutions with high-value, maintenance-oriented services.

    2 leader among open-source software communities, aligns  offerings with the needs of key industries, government, education, financial services and gaming.

    3 context-aware capabilities, driven largely by search technology, enabled it to provide higher value beyond WCM. Has shown thought leadership through its strong promotion of a "touchscreen-friendly format" for internal editors.

    1 has not penetrated far outside Australia and Western Europe which will pose significant problems

    2 runs the risk of being seen as a partnerless vendor, caught between the worlds of open-source and proprietary software, needs a good partner ecosystem.

    3 must showcase interoperability with key adjacent technologies, such as those for CRM, ERP and sales force automation, to compete. Needs to develop technology partnerships, advance its channel initiatives and demonstrate community advances at least as good as those of other open-source projects.

 

Challengers

Vendor

Strengths

Cautions

IBM

seeks to increase its influence with, and appeal to, marketing executives and other influential business roles. Though IBM continues to offer Web Content Manager as a stand-alone product, its Customer Experience Suite combines WCM with portal, e-commerce, analytics, application integration and other capabilities, including FileNet Content Manager.

    1 has begun focusing on solution suites, WebSphere Portal enables integration with applications and data sources via a wide range of mechanisms, also allowing use of a personalization engine, shared authentication and an authorization repository for both content and applications.

    2 undeniable growth potential thanks to bundling with WebSphere Portal and other industry framework assets, and IBM's large ecosystem of partners, and expert sales and consulting relationships with large financial services, government, telecom, retail and healthcare organizations.

    3 more than 10 acquisitions in the past year, including Vivisimo (enterprise search) and Tealeaf (customer experience analytics), will enable progress toward providing multiple solution components crucial to helping organizations fulfill their OCO vision.

    1 faces a struggle to create both a seamless experience for business users and a cohesive, easy-to-deploy platform for IT organizations, needs to push product development and improve overall usability. Web Content Manager seems tied too firmly to WebSphere Portal

    2 infrequently identified as a shortlisted option —  it tends to be excluded because of price, a lack of inherent functionality and the heavy involvement of a system integrator or professional services team.

    3 In addition, clients mention the difficulty of hiring knowledgeable resources, especially for a diverse set of technologies such as those present in IBM's foundation suite.

Microsoft

There is huge interest in the WCM capabilities of SharePoint 2010 and its predecessor, since although this widely adopted product is used most often to support internal content management and collaboration, some Microsoft customers and partners also use it for customer- and partner-facing websites.

    1 SharePoint 2010's adoption by well over half of Gartner's client base shows that it has become an important part of the content management portfolio of many enterprises. Many are using its "publishing site" functions for basic and mid-level WCM use cases. But only a small percentage use SharePoint for their external Web presence.

    2 offers content management, search, portal, collaboration, social computing, business intelligence and composite application features, all based on the common development environment known as ASP.NET. This appeals to companies looking for a general-purpose workplace tool.

    3 SharePoint's success has helped Microsoft build an expansive ecosystem of partners offering a wide range of services to help enterprises plan and execute a SharePoint deployment.

    1 general-purpose technology is also a weakness, as it lacks refinements geared to important business scenarios and influences. Personalization and content-targeting features are urgent requirements for external websites, Microsoft's product is less suited to the needs of organizations wanting to expand a digital marketing strategy.

    2 enterprises looking to provide collaborative, social, advanced search, analytics and business process facilities to external audiences pay a relatively high price, plus implementation costs, customization and design services to get an advanced and readily consumable WCM platform

    3 WCM capabilities are not well matched with some established third-party portals and e-commerce platforms that are crucial to many customer-facing sites, especially with Java Platform, Enterprise Edition offerings from providers such as IBM, Oracle and OpenText.

 

Leaders

Vendor

Strengths

Cautions

Adobe

the core WCM offering, CQ 5.5, sits on top of an open, standards-based composite content application platform

    1 ease-of-use even for non-IT users, can be deployed fast,  one of the best Java-based products in the WCM market

    2 very good intuitive user interface, analytical capabilities enable persona-based assessments of the potential of different types of experience

    3 Adobe's Digital Marketing Suite has undergone a deep architectural integration, enabling the creation a "customer experience platform."

    1 lack of cohesion in Adobe's sales, execution and implementation support, urgently needs to adapt to meet the needs of recently acquired or prospective customers.

    2 focuses almost solely on digital marketing scenarios, this approach is more appropriate to much smaller vendors — given Adobe's size, it should be more of a thought leader and broader in its reach

    3 many customers are still unaware of, or confused about, how they can build broader, more effective strategies that incorporate more of Adobe's capabilities

Ektron

focuses on enhanced usability, enterprise scalability and interoperability through the company's Digital Experience Hub, based on .NET., also provides products for marketing optimization, analytics, e-commerce and social media.

    1 experienced in the WCM market, its installed base is increasing and its brand strengthening, based on organic growth, has a strong partner ecosystem, including Omniture, Webtrends, Google, Baynote, Marketo and salesforce.com

    2 management team is maturing, this is likely to help improve Ektron's business relationships, product vision and evolution, and overall growth.

    3 the product family, particularly its Digital Experience Hub, resonates with the developing demands of the WCM market, is investing in new areas, like HTML5 support for multiplatform interaction, has a good relationship with Microsoft, for the extension of SharePoint capabilities and use of Fast Search

    1 deteriorating support and deployment assistance for smaller customers, as larger customers come. Needs to invest more in its support team and deployment services.

    2 implementation of key capabilities has been difficult from both a technological and an operational perspective. Some of the more advanced functions, e.g. when deploying multilingual sites, are not mature

    3 needs to adjust to functional demands for globalization, localization and multilingual needs, needs to invest to achieve scale worldwide, but particularly in EMEA

Oracle

In August 2011, acquired FatWire Software, has rebranded as Oracle WebCenter Sites. Oracle's previous WCM solution, Site Studio, is part of Oracle WebCenter Content, the company's ECM suite. Oracle recommends Site Studio for publishing from ECM to custom Web applications with modest requirements. For marketing and branding websites, Oracle sells Oracle WebCenter Sites.

    1 In June 2012 Oracle announced its "Customer Experience" vision, bringing together Oracle WebCenter Sites and components such as Oracle Real-Time Decisions (RTD), Siebel, Endeca and ATG Web Commerce. In July 2012, acquisition of Vitrue, enabling marketers to centrally create, publish, moderate, manage, measure and report on their social marketing campaigns

    2 ECM capabilities include document management, Web publishing, DAM, search, records and retention management, archiving, and backup and recovery.

    3 Oracle RTD, which works with WebCenter's content repository and Personalization Server, can exploit a broad range of user attributes to provide personalization and context awareness.

    1 has overlapping products due to aquisitions, raises concerns about the overall road map for its tools. Needs to be clearer and more incisive in helping existing clients migrate from Site Studio to WebCenter Sites.

    2 still has to demonstrate compelling integrations with its business application portfolio, to enable synergistic couplings with its CRM, ERP, e-commerce and RTD products.

    3 brand is not as strong in the workplace-related areas of collaboration and social media as those of some other large vendors. It needs to execute more effectively in this part of the information management spectrum.

SDL

views its WCM product, SDL Tridion, as part of its broader strategy for "Global Information Management" and increasingly focuses on marketing solutions and enhancing the customer experience. The introduction of modules that optimize the online experience has raised the market's expectations of SDL in terms of quality, innovation and value.

    1 WCM capabilities, usability and interoperability are regarded highly. SDL's acquisition of Alterian could give it a greater reach into social media and campaign management.

    2 SDL is gaining traction in the North American market. It should intensify its efforts to exploit this momentum with WCM-based applications for vertical markets.

    3 has improved its marketing on how its products fit into a cohesive OCO strategy. It maintains a strong lead by integrating its globalization capabilities into its core WCM products to help users achieve better customer engagement in multiple contexts.

    1 not an easy to implement as its capabilities are complex, must continue to improve its partner ecosystem and communicate directly with clients to ensure that both clients and partners succeed.

    2 must be clearer about its strategic direction. Its mobile and social capabilities have suffered from weak positioning, but the Alterian acquisition will help. Needs to articulate its strengths in online and cross-channel optimization.

    3 other vendors with .NET capabilities are exploiting this opportunity more effectively. SDL must invest more aggressively in this area to avoid losing visibility.

Sitecore

Sitecore Web Content Management System and Sitecore Digital Marketing System are based on .NET. An Email Campaign Manager enhances its marketing and sales execution capabilities, while facilities for engagement analytics give marketers more autonomy in optimizing customer engagement across channels. Sitecore also provides e-commerce capabilities, particularly for business-to-business customers, through an OEM partnership with Insite Software.

    1 evolution from a focus on WCM to a focus on customer engagement has made good progress during the past year. The company is increasingly shortlisted in WCM evaluations and displaying growth in the WCM market.

    2 Sitecore usability remains strong in relation to challenging issues such as multilingual and multichannel requirements and the demand for more richly functional WCM environments tied to Microsoft SharePoint.

    3 Sitecore demonstrates strong vision, with its Adaptive Print Studio enabling good continuation between online and offline experiences, and its work surrounding Engagement Analytics bringing good visibility to user interactions and campaign activity.

    1 Sitecore's strong vision is well aligned with the overall direction of the OCO market, but it needs to execute on its vision faster. Its investment in research and development needs to increase if it is to continue to be shortlisted by organizations planning ambitious online strategies.

    2 Sitecore has made progress with its partner ecosystem, but partnerships with some system integrators have not been monitored well. Sitecore is working to improve its training and certification of partners.

    3 Sitecore's .NET strength makes it less attractive to users looking for tools with a strong Java or LAMP stack focus.

HP

acquisition of Autonomy, a company that entered the WCM market in March 2009 with the acquisition of Interwoven, providing additional capabilities via integration with its search and analytics platform. A strong early focus on specific business scenarios (such as interactive marketing) and the provision of enterprise-class technologies to improve usability have earned Autonomy a strong position in this market.

    1 Product capabilities remain on the cutting edge with a foundation in the Intelligent Data Operating Layer (IDOL), which effectively brings content management and content intelligence together. Assets like DAM and multivariate testing make its capabilities at least as complete as those of any other major WCM vendor.

    2 Autonomy has, and continues to develop, a high-end client base that includes well-known brands. Autonomy is well represented across industries.

    3 Autonomy claims to command a high degree of customer loyalty. Its skill at cross-selling and up-selling helps it retain high-end customers. It could further benefit from the size and global reach of HP.

    1 needs to improve greatly the extent and clarity of its overall vision and strategy regarding how it will help customers execute OCO strategies, Autonomy is still generally perceived as an entity separate from the broader HP vision. Cross-delineation synergies — e.g., between WCM and Vertica, their implementation and cloud capabilities — are not effectively articulated to the market.

    2 Autonomy's high-end reputation brings a perception of high cost and complexity, resulting in a fall in the inclusion on shortlists for new WCM projects.

    3 relies too much on cross-selling, whereby it appeals only to customers that treat HP as their strategic vendor, could therefore miss out on opportunities where competitors like IBM, Microsoft and Oracle have established strategic positions for OCO strategies.

OpenText

two primary WCM offerings: Web Site Management (WSM) and Web Experience Management (WEM). These are based on its acquisitions of Hummingbird (which had earlier acquired RedDot Solutions) and Vignette, respectively.

    1 has continued to grow in recent years, largely through acquisitions. WCM offerings are well integrated into its ECM suite.

    2 OpenText's extensive partner ecosystem gives it strong global capabilities. OpenText is a Canadian company, but it can also regard EMEA as home ground, thanks to its numerous acquisitions. Strong relationships with SAP and Microsoft continue to help OpenText.

    3 understands its clients' need for WCM to be an enabler of customer experience management, and is building a greater experience base, so that its technology supports the needs of both IT and marketing.

    1 clients remain confused by dual-product strategy with WSM and WEM, customers sometimes move from WSM to a competitor's offering, rather than to the more capable WEM. Shares R&D resources between these two very different offerings, which could slow its execution of an aggressive road map for either product. Needs to urgently address these issues.

    2 needs to appeal to other roles that drive demand, by emphasizing interoperability with analytics, CRM, sales force automation and e-commerce, as well as support for multiple horizontal portals.

    3 WEM is easy to use but not as intuitive as the products of some of its competitors, and should give business users greater control over their online channel. Needs to focus its resources better on future releases of WEM.