Silver Spring, MD, USA -- The latest semi-annual release of "The CMS Report" finds that although enterprises large and small struggle with managing content on multiple websites, not all CMS products can facilitate multi-site management. Meanwhile, the diversity of internal use-cases stretches the capabilities of even the most robust CMS tools.

The report was released today by CMS Watch, an independent analyst firm that evaluates Enterprise Content Management strategies and technologies for prospective solutions buyers.

Key findings of the report include:

• Enterprises are struggling to manage content across multiple public and protected websites. Vendors are slowly responding with multi-site management tools for distributed administration, localization, and development -- but no single supplier has the ideal solution for a diverse enterprise.
• Enterprises are looking to quickly roll out micro-sites -- often temporary ones. Some vendors have developed site replication or "cloning" features to jump-start micro-site development, but customers say the toolsets remain somewhat heavy-handed.
• At 350,000 seats and growing, Macromedia Contribute has become a key web authoring tool for managing static HTML files and is sweeping the low end of the corporate CMS marketplace. Some mid-tier CMS vendors have developed Contribute plug-ins.
• European CMS vendors have rebounded from a multi-year slump. With this report, CMS Watch begins coverage of Germany-based CoreMedia and Denmark-based Synkron, in addition to its analysis of other European vendors: Day, Tridion, SiteCore, Mediasurface, and Roxen.
• Major open-source CMS products continue to mature and expand. CMS Watch has begun coverage of Plone and OpenCms, in addition to its evaluations of Zope and Midgard.
• There are no predominant Web content management suppliers in the marketplace, which means prospective buyers face a confusing set of alternatives. Nevertheless, a little diligence can yield good choices.

"Enterprises of all sizes are trying to balance central control with distributed site management," explains principal report author and CMS Watch founder Tony Byrne. "Unfortunately, there are few industry-wide standards for multi-site management, so vendors and customers are making it up as they go along," Byrne adds.

The 8th Edition of The CMS Report provides updated analysis and 5-12 page comparative product surveys of 31 Web content management offerings as well as short descriptions of more than 20 other packages across 7 product categories.
New offerings added in this edition were CoreMedia, OpenCms and Plone. Other vendors covered include Microsoft, EMC/Documentum, Interwoven, FileNet, Vignette, Stellent, Open Text, Percussion, Serena, Hummingbird/RedDot, Ektron, FatWire, Mediasurface, PaperThin, CrownPeak, and WebSideStory. The report is available for purchase and immediate download from the CMS Watch secure storefront.

The Report is designed to help enterprises make informed CMS buying decisions. 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.