I keep getting phone calls and e-mails from clients and readers asking whether I've actually run into anyone who has abandoned Documentum and gone with SharePoint (and if the answer is yes, are they happy with the end result ?), whether EMC's embrace of SharePoint is a good thing (it depends on who you are-a shareholder, a developer, a customer, an eRoom enthusiast, someone whose income is/would be affected by Documentum becoming a more potent technology or more widely used), and whether I foresee any front-end vendor giving Microsoft a run for its money in this space.
Why am I being asked these questions you might wonder. Simple. I speak to more that 100 ECM professionals each week. And while I'll be answering these questions in longer, individual posts later, here are some things to consider.
If you're charged with integrating SharePoint into your existing ECM environment, do yourself a favor and read Andrew Chapman's blog.
On the other hand, if you're hell bent against anything Microsoft invading your space (I trust you to supply your own reasons) and you want to bring a hip presentation into your next meeting, turn up the volume and click on the little movie below.
If you need to bide some time investigating alternatives to eRoom and SharePoint, Google launched Google sites last night. If you look into it, let me know what you think, Google's a brand that can give anyone a run for its money.
And finally, if you feel powerless over the onslaught of technologies good/bad/unproven, I want to remind you that you still have power. Consider the Blissful Ignorance Effect which reasons that customers (trans. your upper management and end- users) don't want to be burdened by all the details inherent in the choices available to them. It's how you (or anyone else) spins the truth that matters. Scientific findings suggest that decision makers "will often engage in whatever distortion is needed to justify the purchase." It may be as simple as playing up the positive aspects while downplaying the negatives.