Independent analyst firm Real Story Group follows its 8-year tradition of updating the Technology Vendor Map, tracking more than 150 global vendors competing across seven different technology areas:    

•     Web Content & Experience Management
•     Digital & Media Asset Management
•     Enterprise Collaboration & Social Software
•     Marketing Automation & Social Technology
•     Enterprise Mobile Technology
•     Enterprise Portal Technology
•     ECM & Cloud File Sharing

    This year, RSG found four key trends:

1. There is no such thing as a single digital workplace or digital marketing platform

A single platform or a single suite that will give a customer everything they need simply doesn’t exist, so digital leaders need to become conversant in multiple technologies.

2. Some technologies apply to both digital workplace and customer engagement architectures

However, the way customers use these technologies can differ dramatically depending on whether the key stakeholder is an employee or a customer/partner; therefore, enterprises typically employ different solutions for internal- vs. outward-facing use cases.

3. These are highly fragmented marketplaces

Customers have a lot of choices — many of them good choices — but it takes quality research [to uncover the best-fitting choice.

4. Most innovation happens at the periphery rather than the center

Smaller vendors continue to drive innovation; while Microsoft has largely abandoned digital marketing use cases, IBM, Oracle, and Adobe have tended to acquire rather than build new capabilities.