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ECM: The 2007 Gartner Magic Quadrant for ECM
Gartner is out again with their review of the ECM industry for 2007. The industry heavy-weights remain pretty much the same as from previous years, although recent consolidations have changed the names a bit. For example, “FileNet” and “Stellent” are gone, but their new owner, IBM and Oracle, respectively, have moved higher up in the ranking. The four companies appearing this year in the upper-right elite ranking of the “magic quadrant” are IBM, EMC, Open Text, and Oracle.
Gartner estimates the ECM market for 2007 is worth $2.9 billion, and that it will continue to grow from now through 2011 at a compound annual rate of 12.9%. The report cites a strong trend towards commoditization in basic ECM library service components, especially being driven by companies like Microsoft from the low end. The real money in the market is expected to come more and more from complex vertical applications with content-enabled capabilities.
Gartner notes that all the top players are virtually indistinguishable in their campaigns. All are going after the market by emphasizing primarily their capabilities in archiving, e-Discovery and compliance. Although that is to be expected since these are the areas of ECM that are now the fastest growing and most in demand. Companies without strong capabilities in all of these areas would not be able to hold a lead position in the industry.
This year’s Gartner’s ECM report is similar to those of years past, and CMSWatch industry-analyst Alan Pelz-Sharpe finds fault with the whole approach. He notes that very likely most of the vendors listed in the report are Gartner clients. Further, popular open-source content management offerings are totally ignored, and few niche players are considered. Good points. The stats and analysis that Gartner offers is first class, but the source and objectivity of any piece of information needs to always be carefully considered.
