8 rules which need to be known about ECM open source solutions

What advantages of ECM open source?

1 — you can begin your ECM project right now

Do you need to start the ECM project, but you do not locate the budget? It is possible just to download and set an ECM product open source that will allow you to start initial studying of requirements, development of the working model of a system and its testing. Being guided by the interests of community, adhering to the idea of transparency and also considering that ECM is the major platform for any company in the conditions of economy of knowledge of the 21st century, vendors of ECM products open source are always ready to help you to move forward.

2 — ECM is open source focused on what is important to you, but not vendor

The companies implementing ECM see profitability of the solution after a system is started and clear return from it. Automation of current transactions, cost reduction on storage, acceleration of reuse and information extraction, providing to specialists with information of an opportunity to find is more than time to the major questions – for the sake of it you request proposals of suppliers. However the profit of most vendors of the proprietary software for ECM is provided with sale of user licenses at the initial stage of the project, long approvals and legal checks from here at acquisition of licenses. The interests of the client and vendors do not match. With vendors of ECM products it is open source simpler to find a common language: applications can be downloaded free of charge, and it is necessary to pay for providing support while you are already ready to start of a system.

3 — to use and develop ECM open source solutions, skills of programming are not necessary

There is an old stereotype that open source applications are intended for advanced IT specialists. But it for a long time not so. Applications for content management open source can be downloaded and unrolled easily, they have thought-over, intuitive user interfaces expected a wide range of specialists with information. They are designed taking into account the most different competences and IT platforms, at the same time the companies with specific requirements get full access to the source code to configure products "under themselves".

4 — do not confuse software open source and free software

ECM products open source require the same long-term planning, as well as traditional products for ECM. It is necessary to analyze carefully requirements, training, change management and routine maintenance of basic IT infrastructure. Though when using products it is open source not necessary to pay for licenses, for a project success it is all the same necessary to plan current costs for deployment and support of ECM. 5 — Vendors of ECM products open source adhere long ago to the concept of Enterprise 2.0

Whether you consider that your vendor at last decided to be more transparent? More focused on community? More open for addresses and a feedback from clients and partners? Vendors of ECM products open source profess these principles for a long time. Clients become initiators of innovations, and plans can be changed quickly to provide support of perspective new products or the updated platforms. Hints and techniques are posted in open access on community sites.

6 — different vendors have different business models

Nobody loves unpleasant surprises. During preproject examination and selection of ECM products it is necessary to set to what products support of vendors and for what — no is available. Some vendors offer free products which perfectly are suitable for the demonstration purposes and development of the working model, but are not supported at commercial use. Make sure that the vendor is ready and capable to support the product tested by you and meeting your requirements. Sort out, the license agreement which was how offered by vendor answers business needs of your company. How well it is combined with your IT ecosystem, even more often IT landscapes represent a combination of open source applications, SaaS and proprietary products of an enterprise scale. There is a limited set of well-known versions of licenses so the choice of the most suitable option is not so difficult.

7 — ECM products are open source developed professionally, but not houses "on a knee"

All main industry analysts recognize that open source solutions will remain a significant segment of the market. The companies grow in this category, reach the global level, invest in marketing, sales, development and support as well as traditional ECM vendors, or perhaps and are ahead of them in two last points, considering that role which they give to interaction within community.

8 — ECM any more not a whim, but the necessary platform for digital economy of the 21st century

Development of the Internet allows the small or new enterprises to compete in the world market with the large companies. However democratization of opportunities is accompanied also by inevitable increase in risks. Recently accepted and forming regulatory requirements, including regulations of Federal rules of civil legal proceedings of the USA on information saved in electronic form concern all, and not just the large public companies or the separate regulated industries. For sharing, protection, preserving and destruction of business content all have a need for the ECM platform. Innovations, the ideas, analytics — all this valuable business content is stored in a corporate electronic memory. ECM products open source help to save equal conditions of a game for all.

Read the book of ECM "Eight Reasons for Strategic Management by Information" completely.