Small Biz ECM

I believe the current trend for ECM in small business is going to accelerate in two directions. First, the Software as a Service (SaaS) model makes tremendous sense for mom and pop shops that probably do not have a full-time technical support person on their payroll nor do they possess the technical skills or time, since they are focused on entrepreneurial success, to support a server-based system. Gartner predicts 70% of ECm purchases will soon be SaaS solutions. Ricoh, among others, has a very cost-effective solution called DocMall that is based on EMC's Documentum 6 with many of it's features. For the money it is tough to beat. The customer's data is stored, simultaneously, in two different systems across country to address disaster recovery needs. Implementation time is in days not weeks.

A second growth area is with Internet appliances like those sold by KnowledgeLake and Fujitsu. This solution provides a pre-built server, software solution that has AP and HR already in place with a design that works for most small businesses. This solution is based on Microsoft SharePoint as a data repository which appeals to many. Microsofts argument that customers need a Image Management Architecture and not an ECM is very compelling. The learning curve of KnowledgeLake is almost non-existent since just about everyone already knows how to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. Now you have a single button in each application that allows you to index directly into KnowledgeLake and store you documents, paper or electronic, into SharePoint. Similarly, you do not have to have a network engineer to use or support this hardened solution. I see a main differentiation between the two systems in addressing the clients comfort level with having their company data stored off-site vs. on-site. Gartner also shows that Microsoft is now in the elite Magic Quadrant list for the first time and more companies are looking to implement SharePoint solutions that all other vendors combined.

Price points over 3-5 years are relatively the same for the two solutions. Export facilities are available if you wish to migrate to a different solution in the future.