Silver Spring, MD, USA -- The latest semi-annual release of "The CMS Report" finds the pace of innovation picking up across the industry as Web CMS vendors quickly copy features and usability techniques from competitors. However, vendors diverge markedly in target use cases, in support and service models, and in the cultivation of broader communities around their offerings.

The CMS Report was released today by CMS Watch, an independent analyst firm that evaluates Enterprise Content Management strategies and technologies for prospective solutions buyers. Based on interviews with CMS technology customers worldwide, the 9th Edition now includes an expanded set of evaluation criteria around "vendor intangibles" to capture the diverse orientations among CMS vendors.

Other Report findings include:

• Mid-market and upper-tier vendors continue to innovate, including in such areas as site "cloning" and interaction management. However, some of these vendors lag in user community development, and in many cases, the pace of new features is outstripping their ability to adequately test offerings prior to release.
• Several smaller vendors have made serious investments in .NET-based platforms while Microsoft spends this year retooling its own CMS offering. Larger CMS vendors have mostly consolidated around Java and only integrate with .NET platforms via Web Services.
• Several vendors are rolling out AJAX-based interfaces to try to improve usability. As a new approach technically and functionally, buyers should test AJAX-based interfaces carefully across approved enterprise browsers.
• CMS suppliers around the world are straining to provide adequate implementation services amid a general shortage of experienced CMS consultants.

"Licensees are beginning to understand that their success with CMS software depends increasingly on a broader ecosystem of available services and regular interaction with peers among other customers," explains principal Report author and CMS Watch founder Tony Byrne. "Customers are increasingly taking their cue from open source projects in this regard," Byrne adds, "but commercial vendors vary substantially in their support for user and developer communities."

The 9th Edition of The CMS Report provides 7- to 15-page comparative product surveys of 32 Web Content Management offerings as well as information about 12 other packages across 7 product categories. Vendors covered include Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), EMC|Documentum (NYSE:EMC), Interwoven (NASDAQ:IWOV), FileNet (NASDAQ:FILE), Vignette (NASDAQ:VIGN), Stellent (NASDAQ:STEL), IBM (NYSE:IBM), Open Text (NASDAQ:OTEX), Hummingbird/RedDot (NASDAQ:HUMC), WebSideStory (NASDAQ:WSSI), Day (SWX:DAYN), Mediasurface (LSE:MSR), Serena, Tridion, CoreMedia, Percussion, FatWire, PaperThin, Ektron, CrownPeak, and Plone/Zope.

The Report is available for purchase and immediate download from the secure CMS Watch storefront. The Report is designed to help enterprises make informed CMS buying decisions and streamline the Request for Proposal (RFP) process. Like all CMS Watch offerings, The CMS Report does not rank "best" vendors, but instead details the strengths and weaknesses of the various suppliers, identifies their suitability for different use cases, and isolates vendor tendencies that may influence longterm product roadmaps.

Danish CMS consultant Janus Boye contributed substantially to this latest edition. "Major European vendors continue to expand, but prospective customers should recognize that capabilities will differ substantially from country to country in what remains very much a regional marketplace." said Boye.