Ecm articles

In a recent article in Infoconomy, I argued that Microsoft and Oracle's enterprise content management strategies represent two sides of the same ECM coin. Both vendors are targeting many of the same markets and use-cases, but Microsoft with a more bottom-up approach and Oracle with a greater emphasis on enterprise control. Specifically: The difference between the two platforms gets to the heart of the ECM challenge. Is managing content about central control or adaptive enablement?

Actually, in some places it's already arrived. In a recent AIIM E-Doc article, Alan and I explore the pros and cons of some newer configuration interfaces that enable businesspeople to take greater control over their Web CMS and ECM implementations. To quote:While this isn't an entirely new problem, the proliferation of Web application layers across nearly all content and document technologies has simultaneously introduced a new fragility to these tools along with a tacit expectation among business managers that they should be modifiable in "Web-time."Indeed, but there are consequences to modifying applications willy-nilly. At the end of the day, you still need configuration management...just a different kind.

If uncertainty in the content management marketplace is driving your firm to make "safe bets" with large, established vendors, reconsider your approach. A recent CIO Magazine article cites enterprise software vendors who -- desperate to reach quarterly revenue targets -- essentially abuse customers, who have no choice to buckle in the face of prohibitively high switching costs. Hardly a safe bet. The article counsels, "It's time for CIOs to stand up to rapacious vendors," and goes on to recommend, among other things, favoring niche software players. Major analyst firms are increasingly advising ECM buyers to rally around a single "strategic partner" for the enterprise. CIOs should look hard and examine whether what they're really getting is a strategic ball and chain...Read "Take Back Enterprise Technology"

In the latest issue of Intelligent Enterprise magazine, I took a look at Stellent's "Universal Content Management" suite by way of two horizontal applications it sells, Multi-Site Management and Sarbanes Oxley. In the article, I ask, "Do enterprises require an ECM platform on which to build custom content applications, or simply a manageable collection of functional products?" Stellent seems to be betting on the latter.

Protecting information in enterprise content management (ECM) systems requires an understanding of the complexity of ECM systems architecture, the need forsynchronicity between content and metadata, and the impact of partial data lossversus full-scale disaster on the typical organization. In this article we will look at five pitfalls of ECM information protection and propose tips and strategies for avoiding data loss in ECM repositories. Submitted by CYA Technologies

Lately I've been thinking a lot about how and why the Web content management (WCM) industry has grown so consistently this decade, as well as the relationship of WCM technologies to two other important trends: Enterprise Content Management (ECM) and "Web 2.0." I summarized some thoughts in a recent EContent Magazine article; it's behind their pay-wall, but they kindly agreed to share a reprint, which you can find here (4MB PDF). Summary: WCM technologies have succeeded as distinct animals from their ECM cousins for some very practical reasons, but the rise of Web 2.0 patterns is challenging traditional WCM approaches as well. From the article's last paragraph: ...Meanwhile, vendors are making some halting moves to converge the domains of ECM and WCM. Think of it as a kind of reformation after the renaissance. Ultimately, though, it will be customers who teach the marketplace how the tools and approaches need to evolve

This article examines the rapidly changing requirements of content users within enterprises, the content as a service paradigm and the differences between proprietary and open source Enterprise Content Management (ECM) products, and why an organization might choose one over the other. Submitted by Alfresco Software

I recently reviewed open-source ECM project "Alfresco" in a short KMWorld article. On the whole, Alfresco's release generated a bit more heat than light, but when anyone develops a serious open-source alternative to MS SharePoint, well, you just have to applaud.

When CureSearch.org needed a better way to manage and publish a large volume of articles and information, they turned to Ektron. Submitted by Ektron

Check out this very nice piece on Document Management in the UK legal market. It appears that simpler DM tools -- such as Interwoven's "WorkSite" -- appear to be gaining an edge over heavierweight solutions. The article also reviews the state of play in the enterprise content management (ECM) space as legal firms look to get more out of their DM systems.