A ‘boing’ announced Zebedee’s arrival in the 1970s TV series Magic Roundabout… but for web CMS developers, getting into the top paddock of the much-vaunted Magic Quadrant takes more than a spring. Ektron however, seems to have managed it.

And any spring involved is that of the northern hemisphere season, at which time technology research firm Gartner draws a couple of lines in the dirt and announces who made it to where.

Or rather doesn’t announce, as the Magic Quadrant for web content management is more of an open secret; an assessment of the web CMS elite where those who are ‘in’ strut their success and those who aren’t keep quiet.

Ektron is ‘in’ this year, and the US-headquartered platform specialist – which also has offices in Australia, Canada and the UK – is as coy as any of its peers about its position in the top-right ‘leaders’ quartile. "We believe the recognition illustrates our commitment to building innovative solutions for digital marketers who strive to drive results and improve the customer experience,” says Bill Rogers, the company’s founder and chief executive.

According to Gartner, three trends have altered the Web content management market since 2011: social media, mobile computing, and the inclusion of WCM in more comprehensive solutions oriented toward online channel optimization.  Buyers are looking for different capabilities and are changing how they buy web content management products.

Gartner’s evaluation describes ‘ability to execute’ – how well a company sells and supports its WCM products and services globally – and ‘completeness of vision’, a measure focussed on potential and future likelihood of success. Score highly in both and you’re expected to drive market transformation.

Ektron has moved over from ‘visionaries’ to Adobe, HP’s recent acquisition Autonomy, OpenText, Oracle, SDL and Sitecore since last November. Microsoft and IBM are again the only two in the challengers position.

Left behind in ‘visionaries’ – but still eminently elite – are newly-elevated Acquia, CoreMedia and EPiServer, plus GX Solutions (with which, I hasten to add, we have no connection) which has moved from ‘niche players’.

Which is where – amid the distraction of its own restructuring – Atex remains as a rare ‘conventional’ newspaper systems developer among the Gartner elite, and one of the oldest. Other in the ‘niche’ category are Dynamicweb, e-Spirit, eZ Systems, Limelight Networks and Squiz.

It’s the third consecutive year for Atex, which Gartner says, “has an excellent understanding of the media industry and a very long history in this area”. The report says it is in a prime position to be shortlisted by media companies developing or expanding a digital strategy, and cites its “very loyal” customer base.

“In many cases the company has established itself as a trusted advisor to its clients. These clients look to Atex for guidance and direction with respect to the challenges they face, along with the advertising-related, audience-related and ‘digital first’ solutions that will help overcome them. Almost all the customers of Atex with whom we held discussions praised it highly for its transparency, openness and understanding of clients’ issues,” says the report.

Its digital offering and achievements are obviously something of which new group chief executive Gary Stokes is mindful, recognising a “major opportunity to help our media-rich industries maximise the full potential of their digital strategies”, in a recent statement. Of the Gartner reports, he says Atex is “honoured to be recognised once again… and pleased to be acknowledged for our customer loyalty”.

Noting its “reputation for stability and longevity” which Gartner says  are highly coveted attributes in a market that has become somewhat more risk-averse due to the macroeconomic troubles of the past few years. “The appointment of a new chief executive in July 2012 will help balance this reputation with the promise of the ongoing progress needed to meet the urgent needs of Atex's targeted industries.”

Says Stokes, “In a rapidly evolving market, we are concentrating our focus on developing products and solutions that help our customers harness their digital marketing initiatives, build strong brands, and optimise their content management, advertising and audience strategies.”

• Download the Magic Quadrant on Ektron’s website

• Revisit Zebedee and friends on YouTube