According to research from CMS Watch (ECM Suites Report 2009), enterprise Content Management (ECM) technology buyers are under pressure to cut costs and justify expenses at a time when small and mid-market vendors are now providing less expensive alternatives to larger ECM vendors. But you probably already knew that since you're running an open-source CMS, right?

As part of The ECM Suites Report 2009, CMS Watch released the newly updated "ECM Suites Cross-Check(tm)" diagram – offering a buyer-oriented risk assessment of the ECM marketplace. The diagram specifically addresses vendors' evolution as it relates to product development, providing an overall marketplace assessment. Sure, it might be the most cryptic image you've ever come across, but there are some interesting insights behind it all.

- Market leaders continue to represent the highest risk to buyers in terms of product stability and corporate change (IBM, EMC, Microsoft), due to continued rapid development of new product features and the difficulty of digesting acquired assets.

- Mid-market and small specialist vendors today typically represent a lower risk in terms of both product and corporate stability (e.g., Hyland, Saperion, EVER, Laserfiche, Xythos, ISIS, and KnowledgeTree, among others).