Every year, we review and analyze the overall status of the Web Content & Experience Management industry and summarize it in the Market Analysis and Trends paper, which is accompanied by what we call Reality Check charts.

For this latest edition, one of the major highlights we are seeing in the marketplace is that many Web CMS vendors — from smallest to largest — are trying to reinvent themselves as “Customer Experience Management (CXM) suites,” but continue to fall short in providing the wide swath of services that are required to support a true CXM strategy and practice.

Among the many other trends for 2013 we highlight:

• Formerly high-end (and now antiquated) WCM platforms appear to be reaching the end of their long descent
   
• Meanwhile other segments of the market – upper-range and mid-range platforms and products – are focusing on such intangibles as usability and user experience, mobile and social, and cloudability

In the marketplace analysis paper, you'll see comparison Reality Check charts for both products and platforms that we evaluate.  I've included copies of the charts below.

Fig. 1: 2013 Reality Check for Product-oriented WCM Vendors

Fig 2.: Reality Check for Platform-oriented WCM Vendors

As ever, keep in mind they are not designed to display who is the “best,” or the “leader.” The purpose of these charts is to provide you with some key indicators to recognize and weigh various risks associated with vendor/product evolution and recent development. The chart represents four key dimensions that should supplement functional and cost/value analysis in any major decision to purchase, maintain or divorce your current WCXM technology or vendor.

You can purchase the complete briefing here ($895).

Subscribers to our Web Content & Experience Management evaluation research have immediate access to the report.