Apoorv Durga is presenting on Standards at cmf2007 (The 3rd International Web Conference) in Aarhus, Denmark this week. In his blog, Random Thoughts on Portals and Content Management, he made a request for questions on multiple occasions to ask of the experts at the conference. To put my questions in perspective, I am going to reply to his earlier post on Standards and Content Lifecycle.
Provoking Jed on ECM 2.0
I am worried. Worried that Jed will want to stop sharing pints with me. In a previous post, I said that the ECM community, users and organizations, need to define what makes up ECM 2.0. The definition should not be dependent on the definition of Web 2.0. Jed thinks I was calling him cynical. Not quite. I think Jed is too optimistic.
We Define ECM 2.0, Not the Clock
While I was taking some time off for Son 2.0, my friend Jed Cawthorne over the the UK wrote an interesting post on Enterprise 2.0 and ECM 2.0. He refers to a post by Billy Cripe at Oracle talking about what it will all be. Jed then sums up ECM 2.0 as:
Just making stuff look like the ‘consumer’ Web 2.0 apps workers are using at home. What ECM 2.0 will not be is the highly componentized, SOA and standards based dream of Laurence.
Jed sounds more resigned to that definition than excited. Personally, I think we only have to live with that definition if we choose to do so. This isn’t only my dream for ECM, this is one that has been shared by EMC multiple times, and other vendors are prepping, or have prepped, their platforms for ECM 2.0. So why do we have to settle?
ECM Standards for SOA
The current gap that I see in the ECM standards is in the world of SOA. I’ve tried to make a case for having such a standard in the past. However, Bex Huff said that we don’t need another ECM standard. Let’s look at the existing standards and see if one of them can fill the void.
The Web Content Mavens
At last weeks AIIM seminar, I was invited to attend a meetings of Web Content professionals in the DC area. I decided to attend, figuring that the worst case scenario would be a couple of pints and listening to someone ramble on about WCM. This was far from worst case.
ECM 2.0 using the Emergent Approach
AIIM Does SharePoint
I spent a good part of my day today attending the SharePoint meets ECM seminar in Washington, DC. Organized by AIIM, this seminar was marketed as an introduction of MOSS into the world of ECM. So I went to see and hear stories of SharePoint either as a front-end to an ECM platform, or as a platform unto itself. The day didn’t start well.
Why ECM Really Matters
There has been one force driving ECM projects since before the entire space evolved out of Imaging. Storage. We are talking two types of storage here. There is the type sold by the folks over at EMC, and the type that costs even more. The first is easy. If we only store one copy of an electronic image, that is less storage and less for applications to manage. Reducing the second can help save the world.
Doquent’s “New in D6 Platform” Series
In case you’ve missed it, at the Content Management etc. blog, there are a series of entries talking about changes to the D6 platform. They are fairly thorough and should help show-off some of the new features.
- LDAP Integration Enhancements: This describes a feature that I have been waiting for since I heard about it last fall. I plan to use it for Documentum User Names and Default Folder assignments. The failover to a second LDAP server is a pleasant surprise.
- Property Bag: This is a good explanation, but doesn’t go into why properties would be placed into a Property Bag, aside from performance aspects. I can see some uses, but I would have to work with it some to determine optimal uses.
- Aspects: I’ve talked about this as one of the most anticipated parts of D6. Aspects has been used in previous versions, but is now opened up to everyone else. I can’t wait to actually get a chance to use these things in the wild.
Going to keep my eye out for more. Hopefully I’ll be adding to these posts soon.
A New ECM Standard for Spinning Wheels
Lee Smith found an interesting event taking place in the UK. While his post doesn’t make 100% clear what he thinks of this effort (I think he is in favor), I think that it needs some commenting upon.
Essentially, an integrator in the UK, The Content Group, is teaming up with BSI Group, an engineering standards company out of the UK, to create a group of ECM Standards. The Standards that they plan on creating are a collection of definitions and best practices. This seems like a marketing ploy to me.
Word of Pie 
