Sdl tridion Forrester

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For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYSDL Tridion Content Manager R5.2 is an offering from a European-based vendor (recently acquired by UK-based SDL) that has been branching out into the North American market. SDL Tridion offers a graphical tool set that enables business analysts and power users to administer Web sites. SDL Tridion also offers powerful out-of-the-box functionality for creating personalized site experiences. SDL Tridion’s globalization functionality enables customers to localize Web sites into multiple languages, yet manage them centrally with workflows. SDL Tridion also provides integration with translation services and software, which should only get stronger with the acquisition by SDL. Though SDL Tridion’s core Web content management (WCM) application is based on Microsoft technologies, organizations preferring Java-based solutions may overlook this due to the product’s Web services support as well as its comprehensive site and delivery capabilities.

SDL TRIDION: A GREAT FIT FOR PERSUASIVE CONTENT EXPERIENCE SCENARIOS

Netherlands-based SDL Tridion is a $27 million company with a history of targeting enterprise-class organizations with significant European operations. Tridion was recently acquired by UK-based SDL, a provider of global information management technology, and is also in the process of increasing its North American presence, with new offices in New York and San Francisco. SDL Tridion Content Manager provides strong support for next-generation Web initiatives such as personalization, as well as multisite management and global site initiatives. Tridion Content Manager is a visual application, and North American organizations may overlook its newcomer status in the market due to its ease of use and its empowerment of nontechnical users to manage content and Web sites.

Forrester evaluated SDL Tridion’s current offering and strategy for Web content management against approximately 200 criteria (see Figure 1). Overall, this is a product with a broad range of both content administration and content delivery functionality. In particular, it has strong personalization, reporting, and analytics functionality, as well as a particularly intuitive, graphical tool set aimed at power users and site administrators. This means that the product is an especially good fit for buyers that:

· Have global Web site needs. SDL Tridion provides strong globalization and multisite management through its Blueprint functionality, which allows nontechnical users to set up and manage multiple parent and child sites through a graphical user interface. This functionality also includes site cloning, site inheritance, and the ability to override certain content at the child site level. Site managers can easily set up workflow to be initiated when content changes at the parent site level, and the product features integrations with localization automation services. These sites can be administered at the parent and child levels.

July 16, 2007

SDL Tridion Leads In WCM For External SitesThe Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q3 2007by Kyle McNabb and Stephen Powerswith Matthew Brown, Erica Driver, Shelby Semmes, and Diana Levitt

www.forrester.com

© 2007, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction ProhibitedJuly 16, 2007

2SDL Tridion Leads In WCM For External Sites For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

· Want to implement personalized content on their Web sites. SDL Tridion offers excellent functionality for allowing power users to create personalized content — at the site, page, and component levels. Site managers can define personalization rules and target content based on user profile information as well as browsing behavior, for both authenticated and nonauthenticated users, and can create email campaigns using the same UI for creating personalized site content.

· Want to empower nontechnical users to manage the site. SDL Tridion provides a visual work environment, so that site managers or power users can manage aspects of content and the site that have traditionally been handled by IT, such as multisite management. The product allows for the bulk import of content into the main repository via an interface that is similar in some ways to database data transformation tools. Users may design simple or complex workflows through integration with Microsoft Visio. And some aspects of the UI are similar to the Microsoft Outlook user interface, which may make some users feel more at ease.

To see how SDL Tridion stacks up against 10 other competitors, see the Forrester Wave™ evaluation of the Web content management market for external sites.1



Figure 1 SDL Tridion R5 Evaluation Overview

Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

The product provides basic life-cycle management support of content but does not support retention management of managed content. The solution offers strong search of managed content, and its use of XML schema definitions for all content types facilitates compound content item management.

The product supports multistage, transactional deployment models for both dynamic and static content. Multistage deployment is centrally managed. The product also provides extensive native support for multichannel delivery of content.

The product provides rich content management capabilities, enabling nontechnical users to contribute and manage content within traditional desktop tools such as Microsoft Office and context of the managed site. The product features in-context change impact analysis and is also strong in product catalog management.

The product differentiates itself in this area with strong multisite management capabilities and comprehensive site and content personalization functionality. Organizations desiring to manage and deploy personalized Web applications in support of marketing, sales, and customer support initiatives can benefit from these features without relying too heavily on IT developers to develop personalization rules. Site and content utilization reporting is also very strong.

The product’s core content management application is limited to Microsoft operating systems only; however, it supports all major relational databases for the storage of dynamic content and provides a comprehensive set of Web services APIs for developers. The solution’s delivery module is a Java servlet application but is not a complete J2EE solution.

Content management administration

Content publishing, delivery configuration, and administration

Content management capabilities

Multisite/channel management capabilities

Product architecture

CURRENT OFFERING

SDL Tridion’s product strategy has shifted from more functionality for internal content management processes to additional functionality for empowering business/marketing people to manage the online interaction with prospects, customers, and partners across multiple sites and channels.

Tridion, combined with parent company SDL International’s translation services, is focusing on companies with global content management needs.

Net profitability in 2006 was $6.6 million, and cash balances are $21 million, with no debt.

SDL Tridion’s licensing and cost are consistent with that of other vendors in this evaluation.

Product strategy

Corporate strategy

Financial resources to support strategy

Cost

STRATEGY



Figure 1 SDL Tridion R5 Evaluation Overview (Cont.)

Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

SDL Tridion has an installed base of 435 customers.

$27 million.

Overall revenue growth is 15%, and license revenue growth is 30%; no growth in professional services due to focus on expert services and new professional services partnerships.

30

SDL Tridion has 35 employees providing implementation services, and it offers all three types of training.

The vendor employs 135 people, of whom 47 are engineers dedicated to research and development of this product line. The global sales force totals 40.

SDL Tridion has relationships with 15 license partners and more than 30 resellers.

Installed base

Revenue

Revenue growth

Systems integrators

Services

Employees

Technology partners

MARKET PRESENCE

Go online to download additional in-depth data and scores for this vendor and other vendors included in this Forrester Wave evaluation.



SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL

Online Resource

The underlying spreadsheet for Figure 1 is available online. The spreadsheet includes more detailed data and scores for this vendor.

This detailed data and scores for this vendor are also available online through an Excel-based vendor comparison tool that provides detailed product evaluations and customizable rankings.

The Forrester Wave Methodology

We conduct primary research to develop a list of vendors that meet our criteria to be evaluated in this market. From that initial pool of vendors, we then narrow our final list. We choose these vendors based on: 1) product fit; 2) customer success; and 3) Forrester client demand. We eliminate vendors that have limited customer references and products that don’t fit the scope of our evaluation.

After examining past research, user need assessments, and vendor and expert interviews, we develop the initial evaluation criteria. To evaluate the vendors and their products against our set of criteria, we gather details of product qualifications through a combination of lab evaluations, questionnaires, demos, and/or discussions with client references. We send evaluations to the vendors for their review, and we adjust the evaluations to provide the most accurate view of vendor offerings and strategies.

We set default weightings to reflect our analysis of the needs of large user companies — and/or other scenarios as outlined in the Forrester Wave document — and then score the vendors based on a clearly defined scale. These default weightings are intended only as a starting point, and readers are encouraged to adapt the weightings to fit their individual needs through the Excel-based tool. The final scores generate the graphical depiction of the market based on current offering, strategy, and market presence. Forrester intends to update vendor evaluations regularly as product capabilities and vendor strategies evolve.

ENDNOTES1 Forrester evaluated 11 leading Web content management (WCM) vendors across 190 external site content

management and delivery criteria and found that European vendor SDL Tridion has established clear leadership in enabling organizations to manage and deliver persuasive content customer experiences. SDL Tridion excels in personalization and multisite and multilanguage functionality. FatWire — with its high-scoring multisite management and J2EE support — and Interwoven — supported by its superior multistaging combined with taxonomy management and automated classification — also rank as leaders in the evaluation. Strong Performers include Oracle Universal Content Management, which Oracle obtained via the Stellent acquisition, with its solid metadata and workflow capabilities; Percussion’s Rhythmyx with new personalization and delivery capabilities; RedDot, now a part of Open Text, with its focus on usability;


Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR) is an independent technology and market research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice to global leaders in business and technology. For more than 23 years, Forrester has been making leaders successful every day through its proprietary research, consulting, events, and peer-to-peer executive programs. For more information, visit www.forrester.com.

© 2007, Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Forrester, Forrester Wave, RoleView, Technographics, and Total Economic Impact are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. Forrester clients may make one attributed copy or slide of each figure contained herein. Additional reproduction is strictly prohibited. For additional reproduction rights and usage information, go to www.forrester.com. Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. To purchase reprints of this document, please email [email protected]. 42705

and Vignette with comprehensive functionality in both content management and delivery. Contenders include Day Software’s Communiqué — with its multisite and channel management support — and EMC — with comprehensive content life-cycle management support — and both distance themselves from IBM and Microsoft, two vendors focused on good WCM support but less on persuasive content initiatives. See the July 16, 2007, “The Forrester Wave™: Web Content Management For External Sites, Q3 2007” report.

http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=38883&src=42705pdf

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