The Problem with eBooks, Part 1

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image I expect a fair amount of resistance to my next two posts, but I feel this needs to be written.  I’ve been tracking this space for a while due to personal interest and I keep seeing things that remind me that this is not a mature market.  There is some further maturation needed in the space and I am hoping that we’ll see some of that this year.

One thing to remember is that this post is not about the readers.  That is an entirely different topic.  This is about eBooks which can be read on readers, tablets, and computers.  The method for reading eBooks will evolve and improve but I’m not talking about that here.  This is focused on what we are reading.

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Predictions of Pie for 2011

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image Well, I’m doing it again, making predictions for the next year.  The sad thing is that I am even more cynical about making predictions this year than last.  That is why I wrote an article for CMS Wire on Trends for 2011.  I’m confident on trends but it is hard to determine if a trend will result in anything measureable.

Well, here we go.  A list of predictions, and things to watch, in 2011.

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AIIM’s Future History of Content Management: A Social Business Revolution

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image As I discussed previously, AIIM teamed with Geoffrey Moore to map out the future of Content Management.  I was interested enough to attend the webinar on the topic to see what additional details I could glean.

Here are my notes from the webinar.  You can also download the presentation for details to blend with my notes [and my thoughts].

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You Ready for EMC World/Momentum 2011?

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image Well, I’m not.  Of course I still have a few months before we all reconvene in the meeting of the minds in Vegas.  It is time to start getting ready.

First, EMC is looking for feedback on how to make Momentum even better.  You can take the survey in just a few minutes.  Personally, I want to see more presentations from Clients and the Documentum/IIG Community-at-large.

While I am on the topic, if you are part of the same Momentum crowd, it is time to submit your presentation topics.  The deadline is the end of December, so let’s get started!

Last year, some of the better sessions were topics that were submitted by people from outside the EMC ranks.  They told real stories where Documentum software was part of the solution and not the point of the solution.  It wasn’t about sales, it was about learning about how best to use Documentum so solve problems outside of the demo VMWare image.

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Looking for a Few Smart People

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One thing I haven’t really done with this blog is use it for any focused efforts to help my day job.  I am going to break that trend for one day because I am looking for some smart people and I want to find them sooner rather than later.

There is an online posting for the type of person I am looking to hire.  Before I share the link, I want to talk a little more in detail about what is going on behind the scenes.

Why Am I Looking?

WashConLogo_284x100 My company, Washington Consulting, Inc., does a fair amount of consulting in both functional and technical areas.  We do focus a lot on Information and Content Management, but it is far from the only thing that we do for our clients.  We also work with a wide array of technologies, Documentum and SharePoint just being two of the more widely used technologies.

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The Jack Sanity Scale of Content Management

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In my presentation at Gilbane Boston earlier this month, I talked about the growing complexities of large Content Management Systems and their impact on implementers.  I indicated two possible outcomes for anyone working in the industry for a long period of time, a psychotic snap or an increasing level of eccentricity.  This led to further discussions, so I thought I would share.

image “Jack”: This is where we all, hopefully, started off when we joined the Content Management industry.  After a period of time, we change and evolve into another state.  This is the holding pattern until one of the other levels is achieved.  The longer you are in this state, the more likely you are to end up on the wrong end of the scale.

 

image Jack Sparrow: This is a sliding scale, and really the preferred path.  The more you work on different implementations, and the deeper you get into the details versus the strategy and planning, the more you tend to shift down the scale.  This has varying levels and you can score people anywhere from 1 Jack Sparrow (quirky/interesting) up to 5 Jack Sparrows (off-balance, but fun to watch from a safe distance).

 

image

Jack Torrance: This is the outcome when someone internalizes all of the strangeness that surrounds a typical Enterprise Content Management deployment.  Eventually there is a snap which leads to negative actions.  I’ve seen it and had to clean up the pieces.  The quiet ones are most likely to end up in this state.  That this happens at all is a little scary.  Quirky is always much more preferable, and safer for bystanders, than just plain crazy.

I am going to rate a few people.  Please join in the comments to refute any ratings, or to rate others in the industry as well.

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Capgemini’s SharePoint and Documentum Road Show

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A fan favorite at the last two Momentum conferences (US Session Notes) has been the “Better Together” presentation.  The show has arrived in DC today for two showings from Andrew Chapman (EMC) and Jon Ludwig (Capgemini).  I decided to catch the 9:30 showing and see what all the fuss was about (though I think I knew).

Going to take notes conference style.  So usual disclaimers apply.  I will invariably type something wrong, so I’ll take full blame.  If it is italics inside of the notes, it represents my thoughts, not those of the presenters.

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Reflecting on Pie’s 2010 Predictions

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Last year I succumbed to the pressure of being one of the only bloggers to NOT have predictions for 2010.  So on the last day of the year, I threw together a post with some predictions.

As a side effect, I have to evaluate them now.  I am going to score them as either correct, incorrect, or partial (50%).  The partial is for predictions that were correct in the causes, but the effects were off.

So, let’s dive into the juicy goodness.

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Thinking on the Future of Content Management

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I’m sitting here reflecting upon a very productive Gilbane Conference in Boston this week.  It was good to talk to people and see what people were thinking about in the Content Management industry. Engagement, Search, and Social were big, overlapping themes in the conference.

I was at Gilbane in order present my view on the future of Content Management.  I thought I would share the slides here and talk a little about the recent research on the same topic from AIIM.

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The ECM Magic Quadrant, The 2010 Edition

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imageSo Gartner released the new Magic Quadrant last week.

Um…..

I’m a little torn here.  It is an important piece of research and of value and all that, but…

  • Those in the Leaders quadrant frequently aren’t leading.
  • Too many people look at the report and research the market no further.
  • Enterprise Content Management cannot be bought.  It is a strategy.  I can buy a Content Management platform or suite that supports my ECM strategy, but I cannot buy ECM.

Of course, it is full of useful/interesting facts, so let’s dive into it…[download a copy from Hyland Software.]

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