Silver Spring, MD, USA -- CMS Watch, a vendor-neutral analyst firm that evaluates content management, enterprise search, and portal technologies, has found that some of the biggest Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Suite vendors are experiencing the most change right now, and therefore, customers' erstwhile "safest" bets might also carry significant near-term risks.

This analysis stems from research CMS Watch conducted for its "ECM Suites Report," released today, which evaluates 30 vendors from 5 continents.

CMS Watch principal, Alan Pelz-Sharpe, served as lead analyst. "As enterprises increasingly see ECM technology as strategic, customers naturally look to avoid risks in product selection," said Pelz-Sharpe. "However, buyers should understand that some of the biggest names in this business are undergoing substantial transformation that will lead to shifting road maps and product sets over the next few years," Pelz-Sharpe added.

For example:

• Microsoft Office SharePoint Server ("MOSS") 2007 represents a huge amount of new code that is likely to see significant revisions over the next two years
• IBM is reconciling acquired FileNet ECM technology with its own duplicative capabilities, while supporting numerous search technologies
• Open Text continues to rationalize a plethora of overlapping products and architectures after multiple acquisitions, including Hummingbird
• Stellent's tools and approach are likely to see major change under new owner, Oracle

While product and institutional evolution is healthy, highly rapid or unduly tepid change can raise different types of risk to enterprise technology investments. To plot the current state of product and vendor evolution among major ECM Suite suppliers, CMS Watch has developed a "Vendor Risk Profile."

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"We are not making value judgments here," clarified CMS Watch founder Tony Byrne. "There is no 'magic' or 'leading' square." Rather, Byrne added, "Buyers should understand that different vendors carry very different sets of risks, and therefore enterprises need to carefully match their tolerance profile against the current state of any potential supplier." For example, Byrne noted, "Some buyers are going to be more comfortable than others working with a tool that has just been overhauled, like SharePoint."

The ECM Suites Report closely examines 10 major document and records management vendors:

• Alfresco
• EMC|Documentum
• Hyland
• IBM/FileNet
• Interwoven
• Microsoft
• Open Text/Hummingbird
• Oracle/Stellent
• Vignette
• Xerox

The report also includes shorter profiles of 20 other offerings, e.g., CA/MDY, Docubase, NewGen, Nuxeo, Objective, Saperion, TOWER, Xythos, and more.

The report is available for purchase at http://cmswatchstore.com.