Pelz-Sharpe Alan Pelz-Sharpe

ECM - the toolset for downsizing

7-Oct-2008

Tags: Document Management (ECM), Building Business Case, Marketplace at Large, Selecting Technology, Vendor Viability & Financials

Enterprise Content Management (ECM) technology goes back around 30 years, and at it's heart lies document management and workflow. The technology 30 years on is faster, more scalable, easier to use and deploy, but essentially the same in principal as it was back in the day.

Not only is the technology the same, but so too is its core value proposition. ECM systems help you to automate manual information centric processes, and as a result increase efficiency and reduce costs. In fact ECM has long been one of the few areas of technology that can deliver a hard financial return on investment, without the need for spurious vendor or consultant driven mathematics. It is highly likely that we are entering another period of global downsizing and rightsizing, and uncomfortable though it is to say it, that is what ECM tools help to facilitate, for when you "automate a manual process" in many cases you are simply reducing headcount.

In a press release we issued today, we pointed to our new Cross Check chart (from The ECM Suites Report 2009) and some of the messages it illustrates in today's difficult market. In particular that the ECM market remains in flux, and that large, well-known brands may constitute in some cases a higher risk for buyers, with lower-risk purchases found in the mid and specialist end of the market, where vendors remain cash strong, and focused. As buyers you may want to take advantage of this situation, and consider investing further, or even redirect existing investments toward ECM-related projects, benefiting from the competitively-priced market we're currently experiencing.

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