GCN Insider | The tao of ECM
Old-timers often regale us with wisdom
about IT trends being cyclical. Now we get
it. Last year, the content management
field was aflutter over enterprise content
management, or the idea of consolidating
an entire organization's documents, e-mail
and Web pages under a single system. Yet
this year, at the AIIM show, the scope of
content management seemed to be
shrinking. Rather than pitching an enterprise
product for all needs, 'Many of the
vendors are focused in particular areas,'
said Priscilla Emery, president of ECM
consulting company
e-Nterprise Advisors of
Longwood, Fla.
David Lakness, vice president of business
development for Laserfiche Document
Management of Long Beach, Calif., stressed
how his company's products work particularly
well for military procurement. Vignette
Corp. of Austin, Texas, plays heavily in the
e-government space, said Larry Warnock,
Vignette's chief marketing officer. Documentum
Inc. of Pleasanton, Calif., and Open Text
Corp. of Waterloo, Ontario, are going after
case management work, according to reps
from both companies.
Such specialization makes sense. Content
management systems themselves are
becoming more interchangeable. 'If a
vendor doesn't have a particular feature
now, it will have one in six to 10 months,'
Emery said.
Knowing the intricacies of something
like military procurement could be a
true benefit to potential customers, who
would rather not wait around for a vendor
to get up to speed on the customer's
workflow intricacies.
For more IT trend and analysis, visit the GCN.com Tech Blog at www.gcn.com/blogs/tech.
About the Author
Joab Jackson is the senior technology editor for Government Computer News.