State of the ECM Industry 2010: Enterprises Still Battling Content Chaos

While figures from AIIM’s State of the ECM Industry 2010 report indicate that the management of content across enterprises is still, to a large extent, chaotic and disorganized, they also show that there has been a considerable improvement on last year, and that many enterprises have finally seen the writing on the repository walls.

In the last year alone, for example, the research found that 12% of organizations have completed the deployment of an enterprise–wide enterprise content management system, a further 28% are still in the process of doing so and 15% are integrating projects across different sections of the enterprise.

However, the flip side of that is 21% have still to start an ECM project — although the report doesn’t say whether that means they haven’t started, or they haven’t started to plan — while 17% are only implementing a system for the first time. Let’s look at some of the key areas.

ECM Drivers

The massive increase in the amount of information arriving in enterprises appears to be the main driver for companies to deploy ECMs. While many have put it off until now, 60% of companies cite “content chaos” as being the principal driver in deploying an ECM.

Document management

Not surprisingly, if “content chaos” is the principal theme running through this year’s report, then document management issues are also going to be a major problem too.

Taking document management and records management together, the highest current priorities for ECM activity are implementing electronic records management and managing emails as records, followed by the integration of multiple repositories.

This is not altogether surprising given that 41% are not confident that their electronic information (excluding emails) is accurate, accessible and trustworthy.

In addition, 56% of those surveyed said that there were not confident that the emails documenting staff commitments and obligations are recorded, complete and retrievable.
SaaS Document Management

Moving from document management on-premise to document management as a SaaS is also an emerging trend with the numbers of enterprises taking this route in the next 18 months set to double from 6% to 12%.

Records management as SaaS is also set to rise from 2% to 6% over the same period, and email management from 4% to 6%.

SharePoint

On the SharePoint front things are looking good, even if they could be better. Over half of those surveyed had either deployed SharePoint 2007 or were currently implementing it, breaking down into 32% and 21% respectively. This is a proportionate increase of 26% on last year’s user base.

Another interesting figure is that in terms of a SharePoint strategy, while 46% recognized the need for a formal plan for using SharePoint with other ECM investments, they don't have one, and 12% don’t even know where to start. This is particularly telling considering:

* 11% cite SharePoint as their sole ECM
* 20% say they are integrating it with existing systems,
* 23% say it is working in parallel to their other systems
* 5% say it is competition with their other systems.

Social Media

Regarding social media and enterprise 2.0, 29% of respondents view internal E2.0 as imperative or significant to their organization’s business goals, citing knowledge sharing, team collaboration and project coordination as the main drivers

Open Source

Open source solutions are being used by 6% of organizations for ECM. This is set for growth, with a further 9% planning to adopt open source for ECM, WCM (Web Content Management) or portals within the next 2 years.
ECM Still Going Strong

The report concludes by saying that while there is still work to be done, the ECM industry entering a new decade is actually in quite a healthy state despite its many failings.

In particular, it notes, good information governance is now accepted as essential to good business, and ECMs are key in this respect, bringing the added advantages of collaboration, knowledge sharing, better business processes and ultimately cost savings.

The report can be downloaded from the AIIM website after you register for free.

Source: - http://www.cmswire.com/cms/enterprise-cms/state-of-the-ecm-industry-2010-enterprises-still-battling-content-chaos-007576.php

Specialized Document Management Products Challenging ECM Mega-Suites

Real Story Group 2010 Market Analysis Reveal Tech Buyer Risks

The divide between "Enterprise Content Management Suite" platform vendors and more specialized Document Management product suppliers is becoming more pronounced, giving buyers more choices to address a broad range of content management challenges, according to new research by The Real Story Group (formerly CMS Watch).

The Real Story Group just released its annual Enterprise Content Management (ECM) and Document Management Marketplace overviews earlier this week, including "Cross-Check" charts for both sets of vendors. The overviews assess changes that have occurred in the previous 12 months, as well as trends emerging in today's marketplace. This research differs from other market analyses by focusing on needs and impact for the buyers and users of technology, not the sellers.

"It's a risk mitigation report," notes Real Story Group analyst Alan Pelz-Sharpe, "giving you an inside look at what is really going on among the vendors and what you need to know to make the right procurement decisions." Given the divide between the more focused Document Management market and ECM suites, The Real Story Group has created two Cross-Checks.

Note that there are no "leading" vendors or "magic" segments here. A vendor's suitability may depend on the enterprise customers' risk profile, as well as the "fit" of the technology itself, which The Real Story Group evaluates in its subscription-based research.

Other key takeaways from this analysis conclude that:

•There is continued consolidation at the top end of the market
•More focused Document Management vendors continue to thrive
•International and non-traditional options (open source/cloud) continue to disrupt both markets
•SharePoint 2010 will be remain a strong contender and competitor — but typically not a replacement system

Just as importantly, the ECM market is strong and continues to grow, with dozens of viable supplier options targeting specific business problems. "When it comes to selecting the best technology for your enterprise, you must look beyond ‘the top right quadrant,’" argues Real Story Group founder Tony Byrne. "Otherwise you'll blind yourself to many other great options."

The complete research can be found at http://www.eiwatch.com/Research/Channel/ECM/.

Source: - http://www.ebizq.net/news/12544.html?grss