Brilliant Leap

EMC-CMA ? Run That By Me Again!

One of the bright spots of the EMC-CMA conference was learning that EMC's Documentum employees (meaning those that worked for Documentum before they worked for EMC) still like the company they work for. EMC seems to be a good adoptive parent, and it's great to see that the kids are smiling rather than kicking and screaming. Hats-off to Joe Tucci. I should note, however...

How to Boil a Frog

I'm back from a busy day at the DUMA conference, which, by the way, is now called the Mid-Atlantic Content Management and Archiving User Group. EMC CMA is the new acronym. I'll be posting more about it later this week, but in the meantime I thought I'd introduce the "How to Boil a Frog" parable as metaphor for the introduction and deployment of new software applications, and services. In case you're not familiar with the parable, Wikipedia explains it this way: "The boiling frog theory states that a frog can be boiled alive if the water is heated slowly enough. It sounds easier said than done, but it suggests that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out. However, if it is placed in cold water, and then heated slowly, it won't."

SharePoint News from AIIM

LIVE FROM AIIM with Russ Stalters

Okay, so we didn't go to AIIM, but Russ Stalters, CTO of Applied Infornmation Services, Inc. and a recognized expert on Sharepoint solutions did. (In case his name sounds familiar, he was the president of TrueArc, which Documentum purchased in 2002.) Here's his reaction to Microsoft's keynote:

Not Going to AIIM, an Opportunity Missed OR Time Saved?

Most of the Documentum Professionals I know go to one of three ECM-related conferences each year: Momentum (now part of EMC-world), the Documentum Developers Conference (now part of EMC-world), and the various regional User Group Conferences ( DUMA, DUNE, CASE, MADUG, MWDUG, SEDUG,SWDUG, DUVAC, WCDUG, BARUG, CDUG). Others attend Vendor or Industry specific conferences such as DIA, Liquent Horizons, QUMAS Connect, and so on. Conferences such as AIIM, held by the Association for Enterprise Content Management (formerly the Association for Information and Image Management), are largely unknown to, and unattended by, this population. Are Documentum professionals missing out on something? Up until now, I've thought no, but this year's agenda may be changing my mind.

Documentum's Founders Reunite (on a ski trip)

Who wouldn't have wanted to be a fly on the wall when John Newton (co-founder of Documentum and founder of Alfresco), Howard Shao (recently retired co-founder of Documentum) and Razmik Abnous (Chief Software Architect and current CTO of EMC's Content Management and Archiving Division) spent some quality time skiing and dining in Meribel France? Aside from the great powder beneath their feet and the fine French food and wine their pocketbooks (okay, sorry, wallets) afford them, there's the conversation...Loyalty Vs. Betrayal, OpenSource Vs Proprietary Code, and the energy of something new (Alfresco) Vs the confidence and comfort of an established product with an established market following (Documentum). The tension doesn't seem to have been as thick as I would have guessed it would be (of course I wasn't there) and these three fellows seem to have remained rather friendly (it seems that Razmik invited them all to stay in an apartment he'd won in a charity auction.) Here's John Newton's account of the time he spent with some of the finest minds in Content Management.

Documentum + Microsoft:The HookUp- How Does It Affect You?

Are you saying I should learn SharePoint? I've been getting this question from some of my readers and my honest answer is "You should retain your expertise in Documentum, but you should learn something else too." Why? Because every day (and I mean "day" rather literally) a Documentum customer tells me that they no longer see Documentum as the answer to all ECM problems. Want proof? Pfizer recently "retired" a Documentum-based application. What was the replacement created in? SharePoint. Why? It was cheaper, easier, and most importantly, it provided the users with the same functionalities. Will this be happening more and more? Who knows, but consider the practicality AND the business of it. Keep in mind that EMC and Microsoft have embraced in a bit of a snuggle.

Outsourcing a Problem for Documentum Pros?

I had an interesting chat the other day with someone who manages the EMC-relationship at a major consulting firm. He asked me point blank, "There is not much of a market for Documentum developers anymore, is there?" "That depends on how you define developer," I said, "and on what the developer knows, what kind of configurations she/he has worked in, what connectors they have expertise with..." I frustrated the man, but it is a complex question, so there is no simple answer. "Outsourcing is the problem is it not?" he said next.