Microsoft SharePoint and Gartner Enterprise Content Management (ECM) for 2013 report
In the latest updates from Gartner, we see Microsoft’s SharePoint software continuing to be placed amongst the leaders in this highly competitive category of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems.
Unsurprisingly to us considering it’s been there for several years now, as we see with the release of SharePoint 2013 it builds on its underlying core strengths (document management, tight integration with Office suite and free ‘SharePoint services’ licensing for small to medium business).
It’s maintained this position with an improved look and feel and hence ease of use, as well as huge improvement in search and overall licensing changes, to help extend its implementation reach and adoption opportunities externally with suppliers and customers of those who deploy it.
Whilst thankfully it’s not performing to the same levels in the Web Content Management (WCM) space, as we report in our last article, it’s still a formidable platform every CIO/CTO should be considering, given its offering these huge capabilities both in the on-premise and cloud based offerings, as well as a maturing hybrid model for those who wish to remain local and or take some advantage of putting some services in the cloud.
Further evidence of its important position as a leading vendor in this space can be found in Forrester’s report and Microsoft’s response out about the same time.
What next for SharePoint 2013
The continued discussion around ‘to be in the cloud or not’, or go ‘hybrid’ will we think be one of the major topics that prevail for this release and beyond in our view. These will for some time overshadow the specific functions the Gartner report has reviewed in terms of document management, search, workflow, etc.
This is a complex issue that is not a straight forward decision that simply looks at the cost of ownership, or compares Google Apps with Office 365 capabilities.
It’s about understanding impact of operating in the cloud, and what this means practically to issues such as governance, user adoption and compliance. Other more real-world issues such as privacy, data protection (locally with UK and EU laws), integration with line of business applications and desktop applications, will all need working through before you can reap some of the benefits of improving the way in which you collaborate and share information.
This will also open up discussions about social collaboration and engagement, with tools such as Yammer and how these impact on the organisation in terms of adoption and governance especially when you’re thinking of exploring these in the context of your SharePoint environment.
We’ve experience in all aspects of these technologies, their technical implementation and support, as well as the wider business engagement thinking and steps you need to go through before taking the plunge. For help with any of the topics discussed on this article, do get in touch.
