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Gartner Rates Six Knowledge Workplace Vendors
Research
Publication Date: 18 August 2004
ID Number: AV-23-5653

© 2004 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this publication in any form without prior
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Gartner Rates Six Knowledge Workplace Vendors
Lou Latham, Kenneth Chin, James Lundy, Karen M. Shegda, Rita E. Knox, Waldir Arevolo De
Azevedo Filho, Tom Eid, Whit Andrews
Knowledge workers need tools to create, store, manage, classify and share information.
Here's how six vendors address those needs.
Publication Date: 18 August 2004/ID Number: AV-23-5653
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© 2004 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.



ANALYSIS
In this edition of the Knowledge Support Spotlight, we'll cover a representative sample of large
and small vendors that address company needs for content management, collaboration, e-
learning, and search and taxonomy tools. The selection includes:
Centra: Traditionally a provider of "virtual classroom" functions to the e-learning community,
Centra has broadened its reach and become a full-service provider of Web conferencing and
real-time collaboration services (see "Vendor Rating: Centra").
Convera: Starting as a search vendor, Convera has expanded into taxonomy, categorization and
a broad spectrum of content classification tools (see "Vendor Rating: Convera").
EMC Content Management: This EMC division, formerly Documentum, helped shape the
convergence of document, Web content and records management into what's now called
enterprise content management (ECM see "Vendor Rating: EMC Content Management").
FileNet: First to use the term "enterprise content management," FileNet, Documentum's long-time
rival, focuses on content acquisition and business process management within an ECM
framework (see "Vendor Rating: FileNet").
Saba provides a variety of tools and services for learning and performance management,
including a learning management system, content creation, analytics, collaboration and delivery
tools (see "Vendor Rating: Saba").
SumTotal Systems: Created from the merger of Click2learn and Docent, SumTotal combines an
assortment of new and old e-learning tools into an evolving e-learning suite (see "Vendor Rating:
SumTotal Systems").
This representative sample of vendors illustrates the diversity and interdependency of tools
available for knowledge workers. Knowledge workers must access unstructured information,
discern patterns within it, collate and organize it, reuse it to create new content, and communicate
it to colleagues, partners, shareholders and customers. Capturing and storing the information
requires content management tools; classifying and retrieving it requires categorization and
search tools; reusing and re-purposing it requires creation and authoring tools; and
communicating it requires a wide variety of publishing and delivery tools. E-learning leverages all
of these tools to instill the mastery of content. These are all separate processes, but they must
interoperate smoothly to make information flow within and between people and organizations.
Some of these tools are narrowly targeted at a specific process within the knowledge value chain,
but vendors are increasingly taking a suite approach that aggregates multiple functions into an
integrated whole to make the chain more transparent. Centra, for example, focuses on
collaboration and content delivery with its core conferencing features, but it also offers a
managed repository for recorded conferences and other content. Similarly, EMC and FileNet
combine multiple content management functions into ECM suites; Saba and SumTotal have
assembled e-learning suites; and Convera offers a broad range of search and categorization
tools for information discovery. These vendors' success in integrating and coordinating these
products and functions, and positioning them within a coherent, overall product architecture, is
one element of their ratings.
How We Rate Vendors
Gartner's vendor ratings identify the risks and opportunities that clients face with a given vendor.
The ratings focus on the vendor as a whole, not just its position in a single market. Ratings are
Publication Date: 18 August 2004/ID Number: AV-23-5653
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© 2004 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.



updated regularly based on market shifts, new vendor initiatives, and product and financial
changes. Vendors with a clear focus, solid products and an advantageous market position may
be rated "positive" or "strong positive." Vendors that have potential, but face challenges that we
believe should be carefully evaluated, will be rated "promising." Vendors or products that fall short
in some areas may be rated "caution" or "strong negative." Rating factors include:
Strategy: When evaluating vendor strategy, Gartner primarily looks at three factors: It must be sound in today's market, as well as in the future. It must be clear, consistent and shared effectively. Every part of the vendor's organization must be committed to executing it.
Financial: Gartner evaluates a vendor's overall financial position based on official financial
reports, Gartner Dataquest research and other financial reports or briefings. A key criterion for
evaluation is a measure of profitability. Is the vendor profitable or at least demonstrating growth
that tracks toward profitability? Other possible considerations include consistent revenue growth,
cash position, R&D investments and alignment with the vendor's strategic vision.
Marketing: A vendor's marketing tactics should grow directly out of its overall strategy. A vendor
must carefully evaluate all of its potential markets, communicate with potential customers and
realistically approach those markets that are most likely to yield profitable sales. A vendor must
ensure that it is speaking to potential customers with a single voice, based on its corporate and
development strategies. This means communicating a clear product vision, what position that
product occupies in the marketplace and how it's different from comparable products.
Organization: If a vendor's organizational structure isn't appropriate to its corporate strategy, then
its chances of success are slim. A successful vendor needs strong senior management, and its
key divisions must be committed to the organization's long-term goals. The vendor's
organizational structure must allow for future growth, and its workforce must have the necessary
skills to fulfill the vendor's strategic ambitions.
Products and services: Gartner looks into major product lines and how the vendor delivers,
supports and markets its major products. Vendors may provide products (for example, hardware,
software and networking) and services (for example, implementation, consulting and integration).
We consider whether Gartner clients have reported success stories or complaints about a
vendor's products. We also consider how well a product fits into a vendor's overall strategy, and
whether it's complete or requires other purchases to support it. If the vendor offers a service, we
consider the quality of the service, how it's positioned in the market and whether the vendor can
sustain performance in the long term.
Technology considerations are based on whether a vendor is proactive or reactive with regard to
technology in its products. Questions include: Is the vendor offering new technology solutions, or is it just reacting to marketing hype? Is the vendor's technology architecture contemporary? Is the vendor's technology truly innovative? Is the vendor leveraging R&D toward product growth? If the vendor's product is a suite, is it based on a common architecture? Is the vendor tied to specific applications or technologies, and does it enable its
customers to build their own solutions using best-of-breed technologies?
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Is the technology extendible and flexible enough to adapt to changing environments?
Price considerations include fairness and competitiveness. Prices should be fair and public with
clear terms and conditions. We will note a vendor's established pricing practices and discounting
policies, and also consider whether it's try