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"There are certain areas at the enterprise level, for example around backup
and performance and archiving, where I would encourage bringing another vendor
into the mix, despite the risks..."
In our new SharePoint Report 2009 we evaluate twenty SharePoint partner
solutions, because so many customers were telling us they were going the 3rd-party
route for add-on modules, and they weren't totally comfortable with it. (SharePoint)
Edited by CMSWatch on Nov. 21
More and more, IT teams are finding themselves entangled in legal webs as legal actions spawn electronic discovery efforts. E-discovery can quickly become a costly and time-intensive activity -- and can put immense strain on an enterprise's business as usual. So much so, that many enterprises choose to simply settle cases in order to avoid the costly, and often painful, process altogether. Adding to the pain of an e-discovery process is the confusing marketplace of technologies that are classified as "e-discovery" tools. These can range from everything from search engines to full-blown case management tools.
Today we added our newest course, "The Fundamentals of E-Discovery" to our ever-expanding curriculum of online courses. Our hope is that this course will give you the basics that you should know before beginning an e-discovery project and help you minimize your risk by taking a pro-active approach to e-discovery. Armed with these fundamentals, you will be able to help your team see how e-discovery technology can be an essential part of the solution, but not the solution alone.
(Enterprise Search)Edited by CMSWatch today at 12:08 pm GMT
While handy in its own right, Overflight is not available as an RSS feed. It also doesn't seem to be searchable. So I decided to see if I could mash together my own version of Overflight (tailored to my own research needs), using Yahoo Pipes, the visual Web-app builder.
As it turns out, I was able to cobble together an Overflight workalike in a matter of 90 minutes or so (give or take a bag of microwave popcorn). I didn't have time to aggregate all 70-something Google blogs, so I concentrated just on the twelve developer blogs that are of particular interest to me. My app is on the Pipes site as Google Developer Blogs Super-Feed, which you can subscribe to here.
With my super-feed, you can see the title, description, and content for the most recent 8 blog entries in all twelve Google developer blogs that I chose to aggregate (AJAX Search API, Gears, Gadgets, OpenSocial, Open Source, Mashup Editor, Web Toolkit, App Engine, Google Code, iGoogle, Desktop, and Data API blogs). That's 96 entries total. Actually, it can be less than that if a blog is cross-categorized, since I included logic that removes duplicates.
A tool of this kind is obviously more useful if it allows searching. The keyword-search version is here. (It supports single words or exact phrases.) You'll notice that after you perform a search, a header bar will appear above the results-list containing various links and buttons you can use to subscribe to (and/or syndicate) that particular search. In other words, you can search on "AJAX" and then subscribe to the query as a feed; then you could search on "Google Docs" and subscribe to that query as a feed. And so on.
Is Pipes the ideal way to build Web apps? Not necessarily. The list of things you can't accomplish with Pipes is quite long, and the learning curve (for what you get) is somewhat steep. But it offers a glimpse (arguably) of how some Web apps will be built in the future.
What this exercise really shows, however, is the power of standards like RSS. This is a point worth emphasizing. As Web content becomes more granular, compositional, and personalizable (not to mention more perishable), subscribability becomes a design consideration. Users want to be able to opt into dynamic content. This is a theme I've seen emerge over the past year in the Web CMS world as well as in Enterprise Search, where it's no longer enough just to let users save queries; they now need to be able to subscribe to their queries (or the content generated by them).
Bottom line? Feed-based delivery of content isn't just about aggregation; it's about empowering users -- giving them the power to choose how they want to consume content. That's a subtle distinction that's driving a good deal of change in the content management industry right now, and it's something we continue to watch carefully. (Web Content Management)
Edited by CMSWatch yesterday at 08:29 pm GMT
- GCN: What do agency systems developers sometimes forget when
purchasing an ECM system?
BYRNE: ... The third thing is a tendency not to test the tools properly before they sign a contract. The federal government is way behind the commercial space here and doesn't need to be. There is a misperception among contracting officers that the Federal Acquisition Regulation doesn't allow this, but the FAR actually does. Some of the smarter agencies do these [competitive bake-offs], but too few of them do.
As someone committed to the value of proper research, I'll always suggest doing your homework before you start to procure technology, but then -- after getting as smart as you can -- be sure to test....test....test...before you buy. (Enterprise Portals)
Edited by CMSWatch yesterday at 08:24 pm GMT
Edited by CMSWatch on Nov. 18
As always, CMS Watch will be leading a track. I'd like to point you in particular to the now-famous "Stump the Consultant" session, where you'll have a chance to win a free iPhone if you pose the toughest question to our panel of expert consultants.
We organize the "stump" session because we believe that when you go to conferences you should get your specific questions answered. This year the Expo program offers a slew of answers in a very broad curriculum. And if you don't find all the information you need, feel free to drop by our couch on the exhibit floor for a "content management therapy session."
Finally, please consider our post-conference tutorial, "SharePoint for the Enterprise: The Real Story on Strengths & Weaknesses." I'll be teaching the workshop, and guarantee you'll come away significantly smarter about where and how and why to use (or not use) SharePoint in your enterprise. Tutorial space is limited, so register early... (Web Content Management)
Edited by CMSWatch on Nov. 17
Yesterday I attended the Interwoven annual Analyst Day in New York. It was an interesting day in many respects, and one which showed a very different Interwoven than the one of circa 2006. For just a few short years back such events for the firm were painful experiences, as they were forced to trot out a series of lame excuses for missing targets and falling short of expectations. To their credit they have been working hard to turn things around, and with new leadership at the top, financially at least, 2008 has been a year of success. Despite a slowing economy Interwoven has become the comeback kid.
In New York they were not just in a confident mood, they were overtly bullish, bordering at times on the arrogant. And they laid out a simple, but potentially effective strategy to continue their upward path.
This strategy hangs on three things.
First, the recognition that Interwoven is in fact two separate companies, with two very different sets of customers - Web (read TeamSite) and Document (read WorkSite). This basic recognition that there are and always have been two quite separate worlds (that's why we have separate CMS and ECM services) is a breakthrough, and one that some of its competitors might want to follow.
Second, a continued focus on customer satisfaction. As readers of our CMS and ECM services will know this has not always been a strong point for Interwoven, but to give credit where it is due, I have observed and had further confirmation this week that they have worked hard to improve on this - and partners at least (who account for nearly 3/4 of Interwovens revenue now) have come to both like and rely on Interwoven - whilst souring on other relationships.
Third, is to target in on, and to take market share away from, vulnerable competitors. In this regard Interwoven execs were clear cut about exactly who they are gunning for. Vignette customers on the Web side of things, and disaffected Hummingbird (now Open Text ) customers on the Document side of the business, and as of today that approach appears to be working for them.
Overall this appears to be an effective if simple strategy - but it does not tell the whole story of Interwoven. For example, I have long thought that the WorkSite side of Interwoven was the stronger of the two, despite the fact that Interwoven's roots are in the web - and I saw little this week to change that opinion. For like it or not TeamSite is due a major overhaul, some might say long overdue - as the core system is over ten years old. And knowing what we know in 2008, nobody would build a CMS system the same way they did in 1998. How the newly invigorated Interwoven handles this overhaul will be key. They do have the luxury of being able to learn from and avoid many of the mistakes from Vignettes truly disastrous move to V7 that left many customers both stranded and angry. Then again change is always painful, and surely the best they can hope for is to manage the transition in as humane a way as possible. One thing they could (and arguably should) do, would be to lay out a very visible road map for TeamSite change - but they didn't do that in New York. There was tacit recognition from the executive team that change was due and would be coming, but specifics were non-existent.
This has been a constant theme over recent years, and just as Interwoven is gunning for Vignette, they are also losing Web CMS deals to smaller competitors with more contemporary architectures.
With a new VP of Engineering in place Interwoven needs to get public quickly regarding what is on the horizon, again to be clear, we all know that nobody would design a CMS product today the same as they would have in 1998 - hence tinkering with the system will not do the trick, it will need much more than that.
Yet it's not our job at CMS Watch to advise vendors - and my cautionary here is not for the benefit of Interwoven - but for you the buyer to be aware and to start asking tough questions of Interwoven. Where exactly is TeamSite going? How will future changes impact my existing deployment? When and how can I expect these changes to occur? If you don't there is a real danger that the next 18 months could good for Interwoven, but might leave you the buyer with a headache once the party is over.
But let's try and end on a positive note. I really don't want to rain on Interwovens party, they have a strong story, strong management (which they haven't always had), cash in the bank, a supportive channel and are experiencing sustained and profitable growth. And for what it is worth I have some faith that Interwoven will manage future change well, whether it involves acquisitions, mergers or just some new products. Nevertheless for buyers (and the channel) a bit more openesss around where things are going would help to put a lot of minds at rest.
In the interest of full disclosure - CMS Watch paid for all our own travel and accomodation to the event, along with my delicious veggie burger from Big Daddy's Diner on Wednesday evening. We do not accept travel and expenses from vendors, just as we do not consult to or work for vendors, period.
Edited by CMSWatch on Nov. 14
With this latest edition, we recognize that SharePoint has moved beyond a simple product, and beyond even a platform, to become a vibrant but often beguiling ecosystem of 3rd-party suppliers, consultancies, and integrators. In the report, we evaluate twenty-two SharePoint software partners. The latest edition also identifies best practices for enterprise architectures and governance.
You can download a free sample here.
Full subscribers will receive their copy shortly. (SharePoint)
Edited by CMSWatch on Nov. 14
Day Software's David Nuescheler (CTO) and Kevin Cochrane (the company's new CMO) were in town last week, and we had an interesting lunchtime conversation, much of it centered on the long-awaited Version 5 of Day Communiqué, the planned release date for which is ... November 14.
Without spoiling the suspense, let me just say that CQ 5 (not unexpectedly) demos well and is replete with enhancements that are certain to wow many a new customer while also mollifying many an existing customer (including some who've waited years for these functionalities).
But for me, the most impressive features of CQ 5 are in areas other people might not think are sexy. Admittedly, I'm a bit of an alpha-geek; I like to know what's going on under the covers, and I get jazzed about architectural minutiae that would bore the average system administrator to tears. But I've also spent enough time (in prior lives at SilverStream and Novell) installing, troubleshooting, upgrading, configuring, using, and documenting Java-based systems to know how important the seemingly small things can be for achieving acceptable quality-of-life.
Installation pain is a prime example of what I'm talking about. I can name popular products (you probably can, too) that require two full days of hair-pulling and hoop-jumping before you can light up localhost and get "Hello World" to stop throwing exceptions. The excuse is often given: "You only have to go through this pain once, therefore it's not really a cost-of-ownership issue in the broader scheme of things..." Which of course is not a good excuse for having to endure a time-wasteful, ibuprofen-intensive installation process. With Communiqué 5, Day has made installation about as painless as it can be. With just a couple of mouse-clicks to kick off the installer, you can lay down a sandbox-worthy system in less time than it takes to microwave a bag of popcorn.
"Upgrade pain" is another qualty-of-life issue for ECM and WCM system admins. Day Software has done some exemplary work here. With CQ 5 comes a hot-upgrade utility that allows you to migrate from CQ 3 or 4 straight to CQ 5 while editors, content creators, and administrators are still using the old system. You don't have to take the system down in order to upgrade, nor do you have to go through a two-phase process of migrating content, then migrating changes that occurred while the original migration was underway. During the hot-migration process, Day activates change-listeners on your old system, ensuring continuous synchronization of content even as users continue to author and approve material in the old environment.
System backup and "point in time" snapshots with rollback capability are yet another area where most WCM vendors leave customers in the House of Pain. Again, Day has done some good work here. Unlike other products that merely back up your content and templates (and maybe a few artifacts here and there), CQ 5 actually backs up your entire system, including all configuration settings, all logs, license keys, credentials, state information, dependencies, everything necessary to fully recreate the running system. When you later unpack the snapshot (a .zip file), it "installs" itself and recreates the previous environment bit-for-bit. "This is a boon for customer service scenarios," David Nuescheler explains, "because now you can just send me your entire system as a snapshot, and I can reproduce your problem on my machine exactly."
Probably the most impressive thing I saw in CQ 5 when David demonstrated it to me on his PowerBook was the hot-scale-out capability of the newly updated CRX repository. Every copy of CRX comes clusterable by default (i.e., cluster capability is not "added on" or sold as an extra-cost upgrade). In essence, a single-repository install of CQ 5 is just a cluster of one. To add more nodes, you simply install more CRX instances (on as many different boxes or blades as you want), run a wizard that asks you for the URL of the primary node, click OK, and wait for the new nodes to connect themselves together automatically. In demos, David and Kevin routinely do the grid-expansion trick between their two laptops (one of which is a Windows machine, the other of which runs MacOS), wirelessly, in real time -- and I must say, it's a jawdropper. I've never seen clustering done this easily.
These are just a few of the seemingly less important, easy-to-overllook features of CQ 5 that may not make for sexy screen shots or wow the typical business user, but are bound to have a big impact on people who administer, maintain, troubleshoot, and/or implement solutions built on Day Communiqué. In today's market, most WCM vendors are struggling mightily to come up with differentiators for their products. Day, it seems, has found a few -- in the unlikeliest of places.
If there is a fly in this nice ointment, it is that (as Web CMS Report readers know), Day has a history of demonstrating impressive engineering feats that don't always work as well as intended in real enterprise environments. So, as always, test first, before you buy.
(Web Content Management)Edited by CMSWatch on Nov. 14
