Laserfiche is an ECM vendor we have been watching and writing about for a while, and our coverage of them in The ECM Suites Report is set to extend this year as we evaluate their new Rio offering. To some it may seem crazy for a mid-tier vendor like Laserfiche to expand their offerings in the wake of SharePoint, as there is a popular myth that SharePoint has all but finished off the ECM mid-tier. But a close look at the Rio offering shows us that there is thankfully no lack of innovation or useful products to compare, contrast, and chose among.

The new release from Laserfiche builds on its long history of records management and imaging, but adds deep integration with SharePoint. More importantly, with its set of connectors, Laserfiche now provides (relatively) out-of-the-box integration, along with an elegantly distributed architecture for capture and document management. Though these strengths might not seem as sexy as the name Rio suggests, these are product features that distinguish Laserfiche from many of their competitors, and add real value to many larger SharePoint environments.

We urge you to investigate the mid-tier of the ECM market for reasons such as these. As a buyer, you should never simply default to the big 4 or 5 'top right' vendors. ECM mid-tier vendors such as Laserfiche, Nuxeo, EVER and Objective often provide a better technical and cultural fit for you and your organization. They are also often the least turbulent of vendors, with healthy revenues, large (over 25,000 in Laserfiche's case) well-established and supportive customers, and a settled corporate culture - all important strengths in difficult economic times.