Change of Address

My blog is moving.  I've decided to have a URL that is more generic to the industry.  My new blog address is contentmanagement.blogspot.com

The Next Generation

So I've been giving some consideration as to what the next generation of ECM software will look like. Our current suite of software addresses the holes in the ECM puzzle, but more often than not as a consultant you feel like you are the little boy plugging the holes in the dam. There are so many areas that ECM needs to cover, so many components that are needed, that the consulting costs and software costs are sometimes too much for a company.   When this happens we start to talk about Risk Management for a company.  What's the least amount that they can do, and still keep themselves whole.  

However, ECM is not about the least that you can do.  It's about saving corporate assets and information. Its about not searching endlessly for a document.  Its about being able to tap into the experts within the organization and intuitively understand where information lives.  

So I ask the question.  How do we fix it all.  Spend Millions on software, consulting and years to implement?  Is there a better way?

Some of this thought process comes from the new Chrome browser from Google.  They have "redefined" the browser for the next 5 years but we are still limited by the web interfaces to find information.  

This blog will  start to breakdown the current offerings that are on the market and see what holes or niches that they fill.  Then we can look at the "what's next" from MIT and IBM to get a glimpse into the future.  We will also look at how information is organized and the benefits of using folksonomies for corporate information. Finally we will try to make some sense of what's out there and how corporations can deal with the massive amounts of information on their servers.  

Chrome Review - Update

So I've been using the Chrome Browser now for a few days.  There have been a few new surprises that I have encountered with the browser, but not enough to take the shine off Chrome.  These litle bugs include:

Mapquest add-on for Facebook won't install with Chrome.  I know what you are going to say, its not a business application.  However, the methods that developers use to integrate with Facebook ar ones that apply to other "business" sites.  So its important to note that the "Where You have been" application does not behave correctly in Chrome. 

SharePoint.  Yes, believe it or not accessing our SharePoint intranet site is a bit of a pain in Chrome.  The site is very slow and some of the functions don't lay out correctly in the browser.  This is probably due to Microsoft's interpretation of the standards.  

Bottom line 

Livelink ECM = Zippy = Chrome

MS SharePoint = Sluggish = Chrome

Some reasons why I like Chrome:

• Open Source
  
• Tabs are nice
  
• Fast
  
• popup search (cntrl-F)
  
• seamless blocking of popups
  
• Paste and Go!!
  
• Search and Address bar in one!
  

Keep watching for more updates on Chrome and all things ECM

Chrome Browser Review

Chrome installed without a hitch on my laptop, which runs Vista.  My initial thoughts on the program are that it's clean, simple and fast. 

I've run through the traditional pages, AOL, CNN, Google Maps, Mapquest, Gmail, Facebook, Digg, well you get the point.  

The browser is clean and simple like the google home page and fast.  The tabbed interface is simple to use but not revolutionary.  Did I mention that the browser is fast. The most notable change is the speed by which pages will load.  I did most of my testing over a Verizon Air Card and the page load time is noticible over Firefox and just plain blows IE 7 away.  

There are some vulnerabilities that have been reported with Chrome, but they are the same vulnerabilities that were found with FireFox so it should not take Google long to come out with a Patch.  

The question that comes to mind is that while the browser is incredibly fast, there are no add-ons developed for it.  So the stripped down browser has little overhead which can account for its speed.  Since the browser is open source, then add-ons run the risk of slowing the browser down.  Hopefully I am wrong. 

Since this is an ECM blog, I did also test the browser with a leading ECM package, Livelink.  The Livelink ECM package is a browser based system and can load very slowly in a browser.  The Chrome browser is different.  The Livelink ECM pages load faster than I have ever seen in a browser.  The Chrome browser appears to not repaint the entire page, but only the necessary sections of the page.  So not only does the initial page load faster than any browser, but the subsequent navigation pages load even faster. 

In general, corporations should take a close look at Chrome if you are a Livelink customer. Once Google's browser has been vetted by the industry and the security holes plugged this browser should be seriously considered.  

Google Chrome

Well I have taken the start of a new school year and the launch of Google's Chrome as an incentive for me to restart my blogging.

Writing for me does not come naturally. The mood has to be right, the lighting, the drink within reach. Once it all comes together then the words just flow.

So here are some thoughts on the new Browser from Google.

If you only have Internet Explorer loaded on your desktop and you think its a swell browser. Then you probably haven't heard about Chrome. That's ok. If you are happy with your browser, don't get caught up in the hype just yet. Its only a Beta version, more fixes and improvements will be forthcoming which will make your Internet experience more enjoyable.

If you are the rest of the population, then hold onto your hats. Google has re-designed the browser with 2008 and beyond in mind.

Keep in mind, that even with Web 2.0, Ajax and a ton of other fancy technologies that we throw at the current browser, its still a send and wait interaction. Send a click, download a page, wait for the processing, See the nice programs loading, let the page build and ok now interact. Granted some web sites do this much much better than others and some do it worse. Google has decided to not let you wait and click and wait and click They want the experience to be interactive. No more waiting for the javascript to finish downloading and then processing. It promises to be a truly inspiring experience.

Now here is the cherry on top. FireFox / Mozilla started the open source browser craze, now Google is jumping into the pool with both feet. They are guaranteed to make a big splash. The open source community is bound to jump all over this and make this the platform of choice for surfing the Internet.

To the corporate world, Chrome is bound to expand your capabilities and improve user interaction with your Intranet sites. Get ready for the deluge of download requests for the desktops.


Ready, Set, Go http://gears.google.com/chrome/?hl=en

Download tonight, blog tomorrow.

ARMA Brit Literary Award

I am now in the league of literary fellows of ARMA. I was the co-recipient of the Brit Literary Award for the article that Ellie and I wrote last year on the ISO 17799 standards.

The article deals with the convergence of information security with records management and gives the Corporate Records Manager some tools and insight into the world of information security.

This award is a great honor and I am proud to be the 2007 co-recipient!!

ARMA Recap

Well it's been a bit crazy around town for the past month. We just finished the ARMA show in Baltimore. The show was great, with lots of traffic to the booth. The iPod giveaway was a huge sucess at the show, but the "best in show" was the Entium Pedometers. They were a huge hit with the visitors.

We did get work done as well. We met a lot of great people from companies all around the world. We gained some insights into their "issues" and how they are looking to solve them.

One additional positive note was that unlike past years almost every company we spoke to has a Records Program in place. Almost all of the people that stopped by said that they were at the show to learn about what was happening in the industry.

I'll continue to update you on the presentation as it evolves.