There are many ways to visualize the Web CMS marketplace. Our evaluation research lines up competing vendors head-to-head across several dozen criteria for you to compare, but we also know there's going more to your experience with a particular technology than scenario and technical fit.

You also want to know where the vendor and tool are going, and what risks you face if you adopt that particular offering this year. That's what our "Cross-Check" charts try to convey.

Here are our two charts for the WCM marketplace. WCM stream subscribers can read all the analysis and why individual vendors appear where they do in this advisory briefing, "2011 Web Content Management Market Analysis" (which is also bundled into our full Web CMS Report).

Download: Larger JPG | TIF

Download: Larger JPG | TIF

As you see, the two broad segments of this market present somewhat divergent risks for you the buyer. This release explains a bit more.

As always, there are no "Magic" or "Leading" circles -- just different types of risks to assess. Let us know if we can help you with your assessment.