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META Group Identifies Leaders in Web Content Management, Forecasts Market Growth
As part of its ongoing mission to help users evaluate vendor offerings, META Group announced the availability of a METAspectrum(SM) report on the Web content management (WCM) market. The WCM market comprises systems designed specifically to drive Web sites, including capacity planning, site design/layout, look/feel, navigation, content development, production, content delivery, session tracking, and site evolution. These systems empower business users, Webmasters, and Web site developers to create and manage Web site content more effectively.
"We expect the worldwide market for WCM software and services to reach $2.5 billion by 2007, with a 2:1 ratio of services to licenses," said Gene Alvarez, vice president with META Group's Content & Collaboration Strategies group. "Failure to manage Web sites and their associated content effectively can significantly undermine company messages, decrease sales, increase staffing requirements, and raise operational costs and risks. For that reason, internal and external Web presence has become a primary cost of doing business and will continue to be an area of focus for many product and service organizations."
Through 2007, META Group expects that Global 2000 organizations seeking strategic solutions will view WCM as a part of a broader enterprise content management (ECM) strategy and seek solutions accordingly. Although a niche WCM market will remain, it will be increasingly price pressured and oriented toward the small to medium-sized business market.
META Group analysts note that while consolidation in the WCM market has already begun, there are still a significant number of vendors from which to choose. Although many vendors meet minimal requirements, users should consider financial viability and long-term strategy and vision when selecting one.
Among the 14 WCM products evaluated in this report, META Group finds little differentiation. This is indicative of a maturing market wherein users should not rely purely on technical performance to justify product decisions. Instead, analysts suggest users consider presence criteria, including financial performance and viability, sales and support channels, and company awareness, as more important factors in determining WCM vendor and product selections.
Leaders in this market often possess a global presence, significant installed bases with enterprise as well as departmental deployments, and credible positioning with respect to ECM. Vendor viability is playing an increasingly important role, as users look more critically at their strategic suppliers.
Challengers in this market differ little in terms of technology but vary significantly in size, reputation, focus, pricing, and service ratios. They tend to focus more on specialized WCM capabilities than larger ECM suite integration.
About METAspectrum
META Group's METAspectrum(SM) methodology provides a framework for evaluating or selecting an appropriate IT vendor or product, simplifies the decision process, and enables more effective technology investments. META Group's research efforts, which adhere to META Group's commitment to objectivity, are conducted independently, based on industry best-practice research methodologies and subject to the highest levels of review by META Group's research community. To learn more about METAspectrum, visit metagroup.com/metaspectrum or call (800) 945-META. 15.07.2004, META Group, Inc.
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