"Our prediction, though proved to be correct though in another sense, inasmuch as the push to sell SharePoint as a replacement to ECM systems has to a large degree stopped — a good thing for buyers, for in that direction lay serious disappointment.

The fact is that buyers typically do not replace systems, be they ECM or otherwise. The growth in the data mountain and the ever-changing demands to the business mean that IT adds to and attempts to enhance what is already there, rather than rip and replace."

- Alan Pelz-Sharpe, CMS Watch, "Three Continents, One SharePoint Story", Intelligent Enterprise, October 1, 2008.

Redmond Developer: "Alfresco Software Inc. is taking direct aim at Microsoft SharePoint with the release of the Alfresco Labs 3 open source enterprise content management (ECM) system. The new version adds support for Microsoft Office SharePoint protocols, allowing Alfresco to serve as a fully compatible SharePoint repository.

Any organization using Microsoft Office can directly leverage the native Alfresco repository in the same way SharePoint repositories are used today, the company says. Alfresco President and CEO John Powell says organizations now have a choice of document repositories, even if they want to use SharePoint Server as a front-end."

Complete Story

pTools today announced that it has further enhanced its Enterprise Content Management (ECM) software for Microsoft^® SharePoint by integrating it with MediaRich^® DAM for SharePoint, Equilibrium’s Digital Asset Management software. Organisations can now use pTools ECM to manage valuable image and video assets and to enhance SharePoint deployments across the enterprise.   

pTools integration of MediaRich facilitates flexibility and the rapid deployment necessary for critical digital asset and web content management initiatives, all within the overall SharePoint document collaboration architecture.

Commenting on the partnership, Tom Skinner Managing Director of pTools says: “This partnership with Equilibrium builds on pTools capabilities in image and workflow deployments. By using MediaRich with pTools, customers can deliver image and workflow applications with greater ease and efficiency. This makes video, digital imagery and document image assets work for claims, case management and general web systems available in a way that’s increasingly demanded by business.”

I suspect there are many people in our industry that use these terms within
their daily professional lives but aren't clear on their meaning. One indication
is the notes found at the top of each page within wikipedia on this topic.
Almost every page has a quality standards warning saying the article makes vague
or superficial statements and focuses excessively on Web CMS.

So what does it take to be a CMS or an ECM?

full article

pTools Software today announced the completion of one of the largest public sector IT projects undertaken in Ireland to date. The HSE intranet, which is built on pTools Content Management Software (CMS), provides information and services for all of its 100,000 strong workforce, and will be regularly accessed by over 50,000 HSE staff from a network of more than 25,000 computers. Key features of the intranet include access to daily staff news, briefings and reports, staff email and contact directories, medical libraries and other resources. pTools was awarded the contract following a competitive tender process and worked with HSE ICT Services and the Communications divisions over an eighteen month period to deliver the new intranet. Known as HSEnet, it provides a single unified location for internal online content for all HSE staff and, since going live in November 2007, is already receiving more than 750 thousand page impressions per month and is expected to exceed 1 million page impressions in the coming months.

The first part of our ECM Outlook 2008 discussed the emergence of Microsoft Sharepoint as a legitimate ECM application. Even though SharePoint is the 1000 pound pink elephant in the room, other issues like compliance, collaboration, and lower deployment costs continue to drive the ECM industry. Part two discusses five additional key factors and common concerns.

“There has to be a better way of dealing with all of this unstructured information lavishing on shared drives,” says Clark. “Being efficient and compliant at the same time is important. I don’t think one is necessarily more important than the other. Although I’m starting to see a lot more push on the efficient side, corporate governance is not a fad. But we need be to more efficient. We need to out compete.

This is a big thing for Alfresco.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 11, 2008 – Alfresco today announced the award of a GSA listing, GS-35F-0131R, providing government customers with the ability to conveniently purchase and deploy Alfresco ECM solutions.

When you want to sell big to the federal government, a GSA listing for your product is a must. Most government agencies are required to first look at the GSA listing before they make purchases. Only if their needs are not met by GSA are they then able to look elsewhere to make their purchases. At least that's how I understand it.

Over the years, enterprise content management (ECM) has grown from a small departmental purchase to a major organizational platform decision. Traction in the space has especially been interesting in the last three to four years. Ask any “informed” analyst, consultant, even vendor and they can arguably agree that 2005 was the year of compliance, and 2006 was the year of consolidation.

However, 2007 was really interesting. Some would say organizations began realizing the power of social computing and collaboration—blogs, wikis, etc… But the majority probably would point to one particular topic —Microsoft SharePoint.