Byrne Tony Byrne

Follow Tony on Twitter @TonyByrne

Another non-announcement from Oracle

23-Jun-2006

Tags: Document Management (ECM), Marketplace at Large,

It's becoming a pattern. Oracle announces a major ECM initiative (this one is the 3rd in as many years), touting software that won't ship for another quarter, with unproven customer adoption. Clearly there's a place for major infrastructure vendors in managing content. Anything that gets files off shared drives is good, and Oracle, Microsoft, and IBM have the means to help make that happen. But it remains unclear whether an über-database is the best approach for storing content. The real effect of these announcements is to discourage CIOs from making major investments in other ECM systems on the assumption that -- someday soon? -- Oracle will figure out how to manage documents and records just as well as Documentum, FileNet, Vignette, and the like. To which I say: basic repository services are necessary, but real competitive advantage goes to those enterprises who figure out how to get more value from their content, and I remain unconvinced that Oracle, Microsoft, or IBM have figured out how to successfully deliver value-added applications, including, by the way, web content management applications.

    Now Get the Complete Real Story

    Vendor Evaluations

    Learn the real strengths and weaknesses of major vendors from around the world, in our research stream.