The Enterprise Content Management Blog

BayNote Offering Brings Business Value To Social Search

The Long Tail, the now-famous reference to targeting customers that buy the hard-to-find or nonhit items, got a little shorter with the release of Baynote's Merchandizing and Editorial Console.

In an exclusive interview with InformationWeek, Baynote CEO Jack Jia demonstrated how companies like The Knot, US Appliance, and Education.com are using its new offering to tap the wisdom of the "invisible crowds" and deliver highly specialized content in real time.

"Leveraging crowd wisdom is especially important in content and product-rich long tail sites where manual merchandising and editorializing just isn't timely or cost effective," said Jia.

Jia's enthusiasm for what he calls "social search" is contagious, and with good reason. The young Bay Area company has quickly made a name for itself by taking an almost academic, if not scientific, approach to dealing with how to help customers engage Web users.

"We're really changing the paradigm of how a media or e-commerce site is run. Most of the time the community wisdom prevails, but in today's dynamic Web environments there are times when you may want to promote certain content to the top or even remove particular recommendations," said Jia.

In one example, Baynote described how US Appliance was able to quickly adjust its content and search results based on its users' true intent. The e-commerce company saw that most users were searching for "stoves" instead of "ranges." The internal Web team was able to not only quickly readjust which content to display, but it also gained valuable insight around complementary products its customers were interested in.

I was impressed with how easy it was to set up the business rules within the console (pictured below), something that Web marketers and overburdened content managers will certainly appreciate. The combination of Baynote's recommendation and affinity engine is powerful when you see it in action.

Baynote's product manager quickly demonstrated multiple e-commerce scenarios in a matter of minutes, altering search results and product descriptions on the fly, without any programming or back-end manipulation of databases or inventory systems. It's that type of flexibility that made the decision to partner with Baynote an easy one for wedding-oriented media company The Knot.

The company's VP of e-commerce, Kristin Savilia, described how her team was able to "pin" the results of a much-needed search result to the top of its site after it realized the particular product wasn't being found by shoppers. According to Savilia, that type of procedure would have taken at least two weeks to accomplish using its typical IT timeline. Savilia added The Knot now generates significantly higher average order value through Baynote recommendations.

I really like the direction Baynote's headed with its road map, particularly the attention to the user experience and flexibility it brings to managing complex and content-rich Web sites. Jia tells InformationWeek consistently that "the more you know someone, the harder they are to predict."

My prediction? Jia and company will be harder to catch over the next 12 to 18 months if its recent release is a sign of things to come.

 

Technorati Tags: baynote,social+search,crowdsourcing,kjack+jia,analytics,eCommerce,user+generated+content

Alfresco's Social Computing Slant Shows ECM's Evolution

I had an interesting discussion with John Newton, the co-founder of Alfresco, recently. I'm a little star-struck by this guy. It's hard to get much higher on the food chain when you look at Newton's credentials. Not only did he co-found Documentum, he's also less than five years into the launch of Alfresco, arguably one of the biggest disrupters to appear on the enterprise software radar in years.

We've covered Alfresco before, and each time I come away thinking I'd like to classify them as something other than an open source ECM company. It's hard to explain. Maybe it's because Newton makes everything sound so damn easy when he talks about enterprise content management. And when's the last time you heard the words "easy" and "ECM" in the same sentence? But, back to their classification for a moment.

Newton and company have the usual check-boxes for ECM, but have managed to separate themselves from ECM's shadowed legacy of big, unwieldy repositories and tough implementations. Perhaps it's because of its mashup-centric approach to looking at content or how it describes knowledge worker applications of the future. Whatever the case, I want to put them somewhere in the middle of Web platform providers and collaboration vendors. The point is, you need to have both those qualities if you intend to peg yourself as a player in the enterprise content space.

"ECM has a penetration of less than 10% and the demand for content is very high. The old model that ECM has to be a suite is obsolete, " said Newton.

If you take into account the way information increasingly lives inside and outside the firewall, ECM becomes even more complex. Companies now have to figure out how to consume and create content in both environments, something Newton says Alfresco accomplishes by adopting a "content-as-service" approach. He argues that most enterprises lay out their palette of required services based on the need to create content. The focal point shouldn't be centered so much on the ECM suite, he argues. It has more to do with looking at "how the Web browser can help knowledge workers do their jobs."

And that's where the mashup mentality comes into play. Alfresco is smart enough to realize that the needs of tomorrow's enterprise will be heavily tied to its ability to create and consume content in real-time, regardless of platform, place, or device. Browser-based mashups will ultimately be one of the ways to empower that type of manageability and manipulation of content. John described it as simply asking, "what are the Web applications people want to use"?

But don't forget about the collaborative life of that content. It needs to live on your intranet, your corporate Facebook group, or perhaps within your partner's forum or Wiki. Mashups play perfectly in those scenarios. While Facebook-ing the enterprise is out of most vendors' comfort zones, Newton thinks the key is giving that capability to users and letting them create the next-generation of social software applications.

While that may be too progressive for some enterprises to stomach, it does highlight the trend of diminishing "command and control" mentalities. If you deter newer ways of collaborating, you're digging your own grave with "here lies a content dinosaur" as the epitaph.

"Content services should just be accessible wherever knowledge workers are. We shouldn't be forcing workers to go into these ECM suites. In our view, collaboration spans far more than ECM."

I'm betting Alfresco's legacy won't have anything to do with being an ECM suite.

First posted on InformationWeek's Content Management Blog.

Technorati Tags: mashups,information+week,enterprise+content+management,facebook,social+software,alfresco,john+newton

Too Many Vendors Or Not Enough Innovation?

One of our contacts in the PR world sent over some thoughts after reading our continuing discussion about why content management companies fail. His remarks might not be terribly surprising for those of you that live and breathe content management, but they warrant a re-visit.

He got me thinking about an often-overlooked characteristic of the content management sector: the sheer saturation of vendors and solutions.

As he put it, "I think, from even just a pure economic perspective, the No. 1 reason a content management company will go out of business is because there's not enough room for all of them."

And why is that? Is it because of our propensity to view any company that touches content or manages data as a content management vendor? Or is it a classic case of the vendors' desires to be all things to all people? It's really a combination of both. It's just too easy to pass up a sales opportunity for companies that he says are "just trying to stay afloat."

That brings up the notion of innovation. If content management companies are just keeping their heads up above water, how can they think freely about what the next customer needs? And throw in the fact that the space has several publicly traded pure-plays along with what he described as the big dogs (Microsoft, IBM, EMC) and you have a sector on a quest for real differentiation.

The publicist to the CM stars also mentioned how tough it is to predict a long-term view of the industry, citing things like open source, SharePoint, and consolidation as potential speed bumps to growth and innovation. Open source has to be the one that looms the largest. As Alfresco's co-founder told me this week, "Open source is the only distribution model that can compete with Microsoft's distribution model."

Perhaps some of the CM vendors should take a page from the less-entrenched software companies building the knowledge worker apps of tomorrow. It's not just R&D tunnel vision and loads of cash that allow companies like Alfresco, Jive, and MindTouch to do what they do. It has more to do with taking a fresh look at your market and how you need to serve your customers. You see, Jen in Finance doesn't want another big repository that she has to search. She doesn't want to cut and paste content from different applications. She wants to mashup up her own content and she wants it to live and breathe in her own workspace.

I liked the way Jive's Sam Lawrence attacked the innovation thread earlier this week. He sent me his take on how enterprise software's heavyweights could eventually be overtaken by social software's up-and-comers.

This has obviously been debated ad nauseam, but the perfect storm of open source, cloud computing, and Web 2.0 certainly makes for interesting speculation.

The disruption he mentions already is being felt by CM vendors everywhere. When will it drive the innovation needed?

Technorati Tags: content+management,WCM,web+2.0,enterprise+2.0,mindtouch,jive+software,alfresco

Content Management Blunders From Down Under

The hits keep coming in from my "Top 5 Reasons A Content Management Company Will Go Out Of Business" post.  This time the comedy of errors experiences come from a university from the land down under, proving content management blunders serve us all on a truly global scale.

And just for the record, I'm painfully aware that most of the reasons apply to any technology company, certainly one that builds software.

• No.1 - You fail to thoroughly test your new releases, then delete any problem posts from your tech forum.
  
• No.2 - There's not enough interaction between front line technical staff and the engineers, so a problem goes for 3 months of "we haven't changed that" ends with a message from engineers with "oh yes we did".
  
• No.3 - When your documentation hasn't been properly reviewed for a new release, so it contains suggestions that haven't worked for two major releases
  
• No.4 -You have 'modular' products where you don't have to include all the pieces, but things are a bit strange if you don't. They're also problematic if you do, because you have to provide for customers that haven't bought them all.
  
• *No.5 - 'Upgrading' turns a functional testing machine into a non-functioning lump of silicon, that needs to have its OS reinstalled it is so far beyond being repaired.

Number 1 and number 4 are my favorites. The fourth one, describing the modular product pitch really hit home. The challenge with "marketing modular" is the modules become moving targets, updated in collateral and client pitches as frequently as new functionality can be dreamed up by management. Do everyone a favor and first make sure you have the an architecture in place to support your wild-eyed quest for more market share.

OK, I'm done.

First posted on InformationWeek's Content Management Blog.

Technorati Tags: information+week,content+management,CMS,content+management+blog

Top 5 Reasons A Content Management Company Will Go Out Of Business

Several months ago a content management vendor told me that the oncoming recession was causing it problems with revenue generation. I said perhaps, but it's also possible its problems were related to the fact that its customers were really angry and really vocal. It's too easy to blame market conditions without taking a hard look in the mirror sometimes.

For this top 5 list I won't name any names, but I encourage everyone to try to clean their own closets occasionally. Maybe these items will add up to survival in either a recession or peak market conditions. The top reasons a content management company will go out of business:

• No. 5: You forgot to eat your own dog food. I'm amazed at the number of companies that offer content management options while their own Web content and marketing materials haven't been updated since 1997. If you have the teams that can deliver for your customers, let them practice on your real estate first. Would you buy a suit from a man wearing rags? Maybe, but many people wouldn’t.

• No. 4: Your customers hate you. The best technology in the world won't save you if your own customers tell everyone that you're a jerk. Please don't ever tell your customers that it's their fault if they can't figure out how to use your products. Yes, content management is not rocket science, and yes, some people are amazingly nontechnical. That doesn't excuse elitism, and if the words "The customer is just stupid" have ever come out of your mouth, you may deserve to go out of business. It sounds like I'm making this up. I'm not.

• No. 3: You try to develop everything in-house. The market is moving fast, your R&D teams can't always keep up. This isn't necessarily a weakness -- sometimes you need to pick your differentiators and source the other items. If you find that you're missing release deadlines again and again on items readily available from other vendors or as open source, please evaluate your business model. You're burning cash for fun, not profit.

• No. 2: You disregard trends. I'll say it again. The market moves fast and what's on the horizon sometimes seems just plain silly at first. But we've all heard the famous miscalculation that the world only has need for about five computers -- the smartest people have made mistakes. For those who have told me that "Green is just a fad" and "Blogs are overrated," (both of those are direct, recent quotes) be careful of what you dismiss. Don't fall behind your competitors because you personally drive a Hummer and wear polar bear fur earmuffs (that's a green reference, people). Fads and trends have a way of catching on, becoming important, and filling real business needs. Be open to change, and maybe your revenue will grow.

• No. 1: Your employees turn over faster than the toilet paper is changed in the corporate restroom. Whether the job market is tight or technology workers seem a dime a dozen, employees are the face of your company. If they're leaving in droves, or you're replacing them quarterly, it's a morale killer and your customers sense it.

Send me your reasons for part two and we'll post them next week.

Cross-posted on InformationWeek's Content Management Blog.

Technorati tags: content+management, open+source, business+strategy, information+week, CMS

Baynote Doesn't Make The WCM System, They Make The WCM System Smarter

After writing about Vignette's Web Experience Platform, I thought it only fair to give some pub to one of the BASFs in the web content space, Baynote Inc.

And don't be ashamed if Baynote isn't a household name, it only recently emerged (2006) as a technology provider to some of the big brands building large websites. Baynote makes a living helping brands and web marketers use its infrastructure for what it calls "intent-driven product and content recommendations."

Talk to any vendor in the content management sector and you'll find all of them scampering to deliver a better web experience. The underpinnings of improving that experience are things like behavioral targeting, contextual search, and interaction patterns.

Baynote's expertise is apparently paying off as evidenced by a recent OEM partnership with Vignette Corp., the Austin-based provider of web content and delivery solutions. According to both companies, Vignette is using Baynote to power Vignette Recommendations, a new product that can help organizations deliver highly tailored online experiences.

According to Vignette's CEO Mike Aviles, Baynote's approach was unique enough to satisfy the needs of some of Vignette's most demanding customers.

“Savvy Web users are demanding dynamic online content that can recognize and adapt to their intention at any given time," said Aviles. The added capability of Baystone, says Aviles, will ensure its Vignette Recommendations product delivers online experiences that are more likely to keep users coming back, while also building brand loyalty.

Baynote is quick to point out that it looks at more than just click-through rates. Its technology measures more than 20 different user actions, something it says is more indicative of a visitor's true intent. Clients have access to such metrics as conversions, search context, page actions, and navigation patterns that represent the elusive "collective wisdom of the crowd."

AIIM's director of Market Intelligence, Dan Keldsen, commented on the applicability of Baynote's approach, describing the blurred lines of user-generated and internal content.

“Findability and Relevancy of content is key to users already swimming in scattered and increasingly user-contributed information," said Keldsen. He argues that in the end, things like implicit recommendations are key to tapping the collective wisdom of site visitors, something that can benefit both consumers and suppliers.

Kelsden makes a good point. As web content is increasingly mashed up internally and externally, the Achilles heel of inadequate search and personalization is even more magnified.

It's good to see a company hell bent on helping customers deliver the right content to the right person at the right time.

Technorati tags: baynote, personalization+2.0, vignette+village, AIIM, web+experience, mike+aviles, dan+kelsden

CMS Haters To Gather in NYC

OK, the headline's a little strong, but it did grab your attention.

While I was scanning Twitterville, I noticed CMSWire was microblogging about the upcoming "I Hate My CMS" event in New York City. I'm fairly confident (like you) I could personally sign up a few hundred folks for this one.

The promoters actually nailed it:

"While CMSes are among the most vital systems in digital businesses, they are also among the most cursed due to their limitations and idiosyncrasies."

Most of us know how important content management systems are to serving our markets, but unfortunately there's just as many of us that would rejoice if we never had to touch a CMS toolset again.

According to organizers, the panel will address CMS issues from customer and vendor viewpoints in addition to commentary from a technology analyst. The "tales from the trenches" part should alone be worth the price of admission.

Panelists include:

* Kyle McNabb, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research
* Tim Peters, Managing Director, Leading Hotels of the World/LHW.com
* Albert Lee, Director of Technology, New York Magazine

The Society for Information Management (SIM)and the Internet Strategy Forum are hosting the event.

If someone Twitters the event, send along details and I'll be sure to tune in.

 

Technorati tags: content+management, internet+strategy+forum, SIM, technology+events, twitter, microblogging, CMS

First posted @ Information Week's Content Management Blog

I'm Blogging at Information Week

Just in case you think The ECM Blog has become just a glorified link site, I wanted to let you know I've also started blogging for Information Week. So if you're inclined, I'd love to welcome you over there for content management (and information management) news and commentary.

Now, if you're a vendor, make your PR pros earn their money by sending along story ideas and vendor news. If you're a client and want to get some pub on your company and your team, you can also drop me a line.

Here's some of my latest posts..and as always, thanks for reading.

• Top 5 Content Management Trends For 2008
  
• Oracle’s BEA Acquisition Makes Things Interesting
  
• Oracle Captures A Key Component To Its ECM Strategy
  
• Clickability Clicks On All Cylinders
  
• How Web 2.0 Affects Content Management
  
• IBM Hints At FileNet 2.0
  
• Open Source Funding Signals CMS Shakeup
  
• Engineering Content Management For A Web 2.0 World
  
• Are Enterprises Finally Waking Up To RSS?
  
• SaaS Trendwatching With Clickability
  

Technorati tags: information+week, content+management, information+management, cmp+media, information+week+blogs, dearing+group

 
Explore The Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Network (a FeedBurner Network)

Mashup Vendor Kapow Technologies Pitches ECM Value-Add

It's interesting to see the Mashup vendors continue to develop their business strategy, nipping at the heels of enterprise customers like a cute puppy that just won't go away. I saw Kapow Technologies' release a while back and couldn't help but notice their shoutout to ECM customers. 

--------------------------------------------------------------

Content Migration Edition ::

This edition eliminates the traditional, expensive, cut-and-paste approach to migration of content between or into enterprise content management (ECM) systems, automating the process and significantly reducing the need for human intervention. Using the Kapow Mashup Server, source content can be quickly and easily collected and converted to the appropriate format that maps to the relevant target schema or template, all in an automated fashion. This unique approach allows any web-based content to be rapidly incorporated into a content management data store, greatly extending the reach and interoperability of an ECM solution.
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Now I'm no expert when it comes to the mechanics of content integration (or migration) but you have to think Kapow can garner a few looks without trying too hard. 

Maybe reaching the oft resource-constrained ECM customers will finally help bring mashups to the business set.

Technorati tags: kapow+technologies, mashups, enterprise+2.0, enterprise+software, SOA, enterprise+content+management, ECM+vendors, content+management

FatWire Makes the Right Moves

Back in the enterprise portal glory days, I ran the biz dev and alliances group for a now defunct system integrator that partnered with FatWire. I always liked their leadership and culture and quite frankly, I think they've always been a bit ahead of the curve when it comes to managing content. I remember they were one of the first to coin the Business User Interface (BUI) terminology.I always liked that, if for nothing else than its simplicity. (And no, FatWire does not sponsor this site)

So when I ran across their press release on FatWire 7.0, I wasn't too surprised to see a conspicuous move to some of the more enviable Web 2.0 traits being adopted by software outfits everywhere. 

The namesake for these so-called called updates? Yep, one of your guesses would have been right -- "Social Computing modules." It sounds a bit like they've been bedfellows with Forrester for way too long, but we'll giv'em a break until someone comes up with something better. ;)

As to the benefits of this part product / part buzz marketing move?

I think they'll see an uptick of interest from their install base (duh), but maybe more importantly they'll get some biz dev glances from other companies with more mature blogging, RSS, and email marketing tools. I can't see a lot of large customers abandoning their current Web 2.0 infrastructure and betting the farm on FatWire's suite. But I do see a coexistence model where FatWire could power the WCM aspects of a client's web operations while also plugging into, say, a BuzzLogic, Email Labs, Traction, or Movable Type.

I also wonder why FatWire isn't mentioned more on the acquisition scene. Somebody help me here, but I think Fasciano has stated publicly they have no intention of being bought -- I could be wrong. 

Technorati tags: fatwire+software, wcm, web+2.0, blogs, RSS, email+marketing, buzzlogic, traction+software, six+apart, movable+type, ecm+vendors, ecm, content+management

Hear Google's Pitch at ECM West

 I noticed the folks at ECM  West have added Google's Seminar In a Box to an already impressive list of breakouts. It'll be interesting to see how Google pitches in an ECM context. There's no question they've helped bring search to the enterprise forefront, but what about the other pieces? 

One thing I'm sure we'll hear about is the roadmap for the Apps For Your Domain product. It has a decidedly ECM slant, just by having Google's Page Creator (pictured below). And with web content management (WCM) en vogue again, what's to stop Google from integrating their WCM back-end with other ECM toolsets?

And having used it to create a website in about 30 minutes, (I know, it shows) I can tell you it's compelling enough to consider for many a web project. Plug in a CSS resource, add some intranet widgets and you could be on your way.

What would you want to hear from Google?

tags: ecm+west, ecm, ecm+vendors, google, google+in+a+box+seminar, ecm+events, wcm, content+management, AIIM

Is Web Content Management Making a Comeback?

Many agree web content management (WCM) may be making a comeback. Whether you agree or not, I think it's fair to say an ECM vendor will invariably be approached about its WCM capabilities. After all, the benefit of ECM has always been purported as having the capability to extend your content across the enterprise. And that means websites, intranets, extranets, whatever web properties exist. Insert WCM here.

And as Tony Byrne reflects below, the stronger the WCM message, the better chance a vendor has to become "strategic".

WCM lost favor among several ECM players "in part because the seat license numbers (and recurring maintenance revenue) are smaller than in document management and compliance deals," says Tony Byrne, founder and principle analyst at CMSWatch. "Now I think there is a growing recognition that an ECM vendor that wants to be a strategic partner to a major customer--hopefully 'the' strategic partner--needs to have a good WCM story."

Byrne says EMC Documentum, FileNet, Open Text and Hummingbird "didn't come to the party with strong WCM modules, but all four of those companies are working fairly hard now to make up ground."

FileNet Releases Web Content Manager 3.0

Web Content Management (WCM) got a boost today with FileNet's new release of WCM 3.0, a solution geared for companies managing large websites and intranets. FileNet bought eGrail a few years back ( CMSwatch comments) but didn't seem to play up its WCM capabilities until recently.

We think you'll see more companies embracing WCM 3.0 as more ECM back-ends get put into place. From a technology perspective, WCM doesn't drive large ECM projects, it's the content engine, image repository,or BPM capabilities.

The other takeaway from the release is how the ECM vendors are stressing the importance of usability in ECM applications. I challenge you to find an ECM press release that doesn't lead with the an end-user slant. But isn't that the way it should be?

"Among the new and enhanced features of FileNet Web Content Manager is integration with FileNet's industry-leading Business Process Management capabilities and support for clustering for improved scalability. WCM 3.0 also features a new FileNet P8 integrated, user interface that provides intuitive, easy-to-use content entry templates, and a component level architecture, which supports versioning and the revision of content at the object level, rather than the page level."

Web Content Management (WCM) vendor analysis

Web Content Management (WCM) vendors were recently evaluated by Forrester Research. And in a related survey, the results showed that 84 percent of enterprises plan to increase their WCM deployments to consolidate rogue sites and departmental intranets.

FatWire, Tridion, and Vignette demonstrated clear product strength, offering strong dynamic content delivery and site and content personalization support.

Enterprise content management (ECM) suite vendors, Interwoven and Stellent, provided breadth through comprehensive WCM products that not only address the management and publishing of content but also help deliver dynamic, personalized user experiences.

EMC/documentum, Microsoft, Percussion, and RedDot offered products that support an organization's external site initiatives, but lacked breadth and/or depth in areas that impact their external site support.

"We are experiencing renewed interest in WCM as organizations look to consolidate Web sites and support new, Web-based growth initiatives," said Kyle McNabb, senior analyst at Forrester. "WCM is not new, and a successful implementation depends greatly on how well any product matches the diverse needs of content owners, contributors, site managers, and IT in support of the organization's external and internal site initiatives."

ECM Suites vs. Best-of-Breed

Tony Byrne at CMS-Watch sparks the debate between ECM suite provider FileNet and Web content management (WCM) vendor Tridion on which solution works best when approaching a content management intiative.

Does anyone care about Web Content Management (WCM)?

The Web Content Management (WCM) market continues to be the stepchild within the ECM ranks. Doug Henschen talks about the vendor strategies for WCM, and includes a few telling quotes from the vendors themselves.

"We have a services layer that allows us to expose API function calls to any third-party WCM engine. RedDot remains our partner in the small- and medium-sized enterprise space, and we find that many of our larger customers have already deployed WCM products." ~ Hummingbird

The services layer is the common theme these days with the ECM vendors...Web services and SOA has done wonders for how third-party services are accessed. It's opened up new partnerships, features, and functionality that in the past would have required re-writes, heavy integration work, and just too much time. 

Online Forms Drive Efficiency

We came across this story after some hallway discussions about the use of online forms. Typically, the ROI is pretty straightforward. And the implementation tends to be easier, as the architecture supports Web services and uses XML to move the information. Our guess is you'll be seeing more eForms in the near future, and if the analysts are right about Web Content Management (WCM) resurfacing, that should only add fuel to the fire.

From the story ~

"Most customer-facing processes remain mired in paperwork. Document imaging can minimize paper-handling delays and data-entry labor, but Web-based forms offer a more cost-effective alternative that eliminates paperwork and secondary data entry. Built-in rules and data validation ensure accurate data entry and complete information, and integration with databases and back-end workflows speeds processing."

The Evolution of Document Management

James Till of Xythos Software gives his view of the evolving document management space. One of the interesting things he describes is the way lower-end document management systems coexist with higher-end ECM platforms. In our experience, it's often the scanning and imaging piece  that drives the need for a more comprehensive ECM strategy.

~ Link via Amplexor's Weblog