Considering Smaller ECM VendorsConsidering Smaller ECM Vendors

Currently on Intelligent Enterprise you can read my recent review of Xythos Document Manager Version 6. Though I have a short fuse with those who say that "basic content services" (BCS) are all that any enterprise needs for their ECM requirements, I remain nonetheless supportive of "lite" offerings.ECM is such an overblown and overused term (but it's the only one we have) that encompasses everything from huge imaging and case management deployments to simple document collaboration projects.

There is room for all the vendors who want to deliver value; the problem comes for the buyer to make sense of apparently similar, but actually widely divergent ECM products in this confused market. Many niche vendors such as as Xythos, Saperion, FormTek or Cimage can tend to be overlooked as a result, and that's a shame, because under the right circumstances they may offer a better fit for your needs than the likes of IBM, Interwoven or Open Text...

Alan Pelz-Sharpe is a principal analyst at CMS Watch. Write him at [email protected]I have a short fuse with those who say that "basic content services" are all that any enterprise needs for their ECM requirements, but I remain nonetheless supportive of "lite" offerings. ECM is such an overblown and overused term that encompasses everything from huge imaging and case management deployments to simple document collaboration projects.