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Alan Pelz-Sharpe

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Documentum vs SharePoint - and the need for therapy

2-Feb-2009

Tags: , Document Management (ECM), E-mail Archiving and Management, , Building Business Case, Implementation, Industry Standards, Marketplace at Large, Selecting Technology, Vendor Viability & Financials, Documentum

Our job at CMS Watch involves more than simply writing and researching technology evaluations; we also spend a lot of time advising and guiding our customers. Sometimes this comes in the form of short consulting engagements; sometimes it's just providing a shoulder to cry upon. In these situations we are typically advising customers on either making best use of their current technology investments, developing a strategy for success or helping with the selection of new technology, all very dry you might think.

But often our effort resembles more the work of a therapist than that of a technology consultant. Helping our customers by listening to them explain their presenting problem, working with them to uncover the root cause of the issue, and most importantly guiding them toward a solution. Empathy and pragmatism rule the day, but there are times when the best we can offer is a shoulder to cry on. Take this example from my casebook...

My client (let's call her "IT Director X") has been through a rough time of it lately. Her firm invested heavily in thousands of Documentum licenses four years back. They bought the licenses as they intended to create a sophisticated records management system -- essential for this heavily regulated and frequently litigated against firm. It was a well-intentioned, and well-funded project, with board level support.

It should have been a career-enhancing project to work on, but it wasn't. In fact it was an abject failure. End users made it very clear that they hated the new system and flatly refused to use it. IT never managed to properly integrate it with Outlook, despite this being a key requirement and spending deeply on consultants and developers. I'm not quite sure how you measure failure, but these are the milestones that Director X points to: the CIO was fired, as was the first PM, while the second PM (literally) died on the job, I kid you not.

After two years of recriminations the firm finally decided on a new approach to the problem, SharePoint. They came to the decision that layering SharePoint onto Documentum as a UI front-end made a lot of sense. Users loved it and embraced SharePoint with enthusiasm, and of course the complexity (and strengths) of Documentum was masked -- yet it was able to continue its role of providing tight compliance controls to the produced content.

It was a marriage made in heaven, except that the marriage was never consummated. For as of today Director X and the IT team between them have a dirty secret that they would rather not let anyone know about. Documentum and SharePoint are not in fact integrated together at all. The pilot project for SharePoint that allowed users to trial the system simply mushroomed, and content sits entirely in SharePoint.

A success you might think? Far from it, a good analogy would be "out of the frying pan and into the fire." For not only is the firm paying a lot of money for Documentum licenses and support, but SharePoint is not cheap either. Add to this the even bigger worry that SharePoint sprawl is already building up fast. Some records management services have been activated, but compliance, disposition, and archiving functionality are absent from the equation.

"What should I do?" cried Director X. I could have been blunt and practical and said, "Get another job before they find out." Part of me wanted to say, "Why on earth didn't you tell me about this long ago?" Of course if she wants my help, then I can and will help her to make the best of what is a rotten situation. Who knows we may even come out of it stronger. We will certainly come out wiser.

But what really troubles me is that these sorts of situations are far more common than many realize: millions wasted in shelfware, failed projects, and a strategy that is simply leading to further failure. It's basic stuff: technology is bought too early, with insufficient thought, stakeholders are not properly consulted, change is managed poorly and independent advice is sought from heavily compromised parties. If any of this resonates with you, then give me a call. I can't promise to be able to help you, but if you are willing to work with me then maybe we can find some light at the end of the tunnel to work toward. And at a bare minimum you will always find a sympathetic shoulder to cry upon.