ECM Report

Much has been made of late of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), HIPAA and various other regulatory compliance related issues. Supposedly, these initiatives were going to drive Enterprise Content Management (ECM) sales in much of 2003 and 2004. Yet, for the most part, ECM vendors have left a lot on the table and not capitalized on this major trend to the greatest extent possible. Let’s examine why I believe vendors are struggling in this area, what they need to do to get the right message out, and the best way to approach compliance-minded organizations. Read the rest of this entry »

The Vignette and Tower acquisition poll is closed and the results are in. This is a bit interesting… Read the rest of this entry »

Though this deal will have little impact in the market, it nevertheless serves to further validate how the industry players define ECM and the components they feel are critical to realizing a complete vision and offering. Read the rest of this entry »

I was recently posed an intriguing question regarding Stellent’s acquisition of Optika that I had not really given much thought to. The observation was that some in the industry might view the acquisition as a commitment by Stellent to the mid-market. I immediately gave an opinion but chose to dedicate some additional brainwaves to the topic. After giving it some additional thought I am happy to say that my original opinion has changed little. The answer was a resounding… maybe. Read the rest of this entry »

After all of the acquisitions in the ECM space over the last year or so, it is interesting to finally see some execution of vision and long term game plans. OpenText appears to be flying out of the gate in getting their vision of ECM to market. Read the rest of this entry »

The recent and continuing convergence in the ECM industry while certainly interesting for vendors, analysts and investors has managed to leave potential customers dazed and confused. The activity undoubtedly bodes well for the future but what about the present? If you have been contemplating various ECM-related initiatives you are probably wondering if now is the time to get in, get out, or wait. Well, I would say to you, buy buy buy buy and buy. Now. Here’s why… Read the rest of this entry »

In the never-ending battle for all that is good in pure in the world, I lost. Again. I am speaking of course, of the fight against the cumulative marketing mind power behind the relatively new, ever broadening and completely nondescript acronym that is “ECM”. It’s been around for a couple of years, but I was sure hoping it was just another fad soon to go the way of parachute pants. I am not sure where it came from exactly, nor does is really matter at this point. What matters is that there is an entire industry of consumers wanting to buy this stuff, and yet, they have no idea what it is. I feel their pain. In the constant struggle to develop brand recognition and product differentiation, industry marketers have managed to completely disenfranchise their entire constituency! Read the rest of this entry »

The trend towards the single source content provider has triggered many recent acquisitions within the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) space. Thus far, the convergence has been about bringing under a single umbrella established technologies that have been around for a long time. Everyone has scrambled to acquire and/or build the requisite components that make up the generally accepted definition of ECM. So what’s next? Read the rest of this entry »

Our poll regarding the consensus on the Stellent/Optika deal are in. The results are a bit interesting. Read the rest of this entry »

The consolidation currently under way in the CM space is certainly intriguing, fun to watch, and could ultimately breathe new life into a sector that has been stagnating for some time. It is likely that additional mergers and acquisitions will take place over the rest of the year. Read on for a summary of what has happened so far… Read the rest of this entry »