In Search Of Simple Content Management: CMS Watch Warns “It Won’t Be Easy”

“Despite all the industry mergers, new product versions, and ceaseless march of acronyms, the (content management) industry does not in fact move very fast,” said Tony Byrne, CMS Watch founder. “Instead, 2007 will be characterized by the elusive quest for ‘simple,’ as buyers seek out simpler solutions to complex business problems.”

The CMS Watch analyst team predicts that “simple” won’t be easy:

• Google de-googles its appliance—The Google Appliance will continue to disrupt the enterprise search market, but its ever-expanding feature set will inevitably make the appliance harder to administer
• Rediscovery of workflow—Those considering compliance, document, email, or content management solutions to resolve the issue of lost and irrelevant information are coming quickly to the conclusion that complex processes need to be defined and enforced before new technologies are adopted
• Falling seat prices—Lower-priced options will create a buyers’ market for content and document technologies
• AJAX UI backlash—Many software vendors are working on revamped, AJAX-based interfaces to simplify the user experience, but early results suggest that many of these slick interfaces are less than functional and reliable
• Portal platforms diversifying—As portal technology becomes increasingly strategic and widespread, more vendors will offer multiple different portal platforms to fit enterprise requirements, rather than “one ring to rule them all” uber-products

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