State Of Content Software Technology: Annual Outlook

This is our annual review of the myriad of content software technology (CST) companies that support the creation, selling and distribution, management, and use of all forms of business content. For anyone confused by the many content-related technologies flooding the market, this Briefing provides an essential guide, including a definition of CST and its constituent product categories, a compendium of vendors that Outsell believes are important in the market, an examination of challenges faced by CST vendors as well as buyers and information managers, and the outlook for the future. The heart of the Briefing is a table of key vendors in the various CST segments and an analysis of where each segment is headed. For CST vendors, the Briefing identifies the biggest challenge as simply making technologies and products understandable to customers, and suggests taking an information supply chain approach to staking out a place for their technologies. For commercial content vendors, the Briefing suggests looking at CST as not just a way to deliver products, but as an enabler of new business models and value-add tools. For information management professionals, it advises keeping the focus on users' tasks and processes, and not getting too hung up on which technology to use.