This is part three of a four part series on AIIM’s Automating Document-centric Processes – Is SharePoint Enough?” Seminar. In each case I will start with the title and quote the session description before going into my notes.

The full title is: Transcending the Federated Search: Unifying and managing multiple content repositories such as SharePoint, with robust ECM Services. The description reads, “SharePoint has changed the face of ECM, yet organizations are suddenly realizing that the utopian view of a single repository for all of their content is unrealistic. In fact, AIIM and Forrester have stated that multiple repositories in an organization are now considered the norm.”

Tim Kanaley of Clearview, a Microsoft partner, led this session. It is an ECM provider that offers a Sharepoint based ECM suite.  When Tim asked, about 25% of the room has Sharepoint now but none are using it for ECM.  Sharepoint now offers more robust ECM capabilities but this audience Is not using them yet. At the same time, Tim has found that many companies with existing ECM are trying to figure out how to get Sharepoint involved with their ECM efforts. This theme was also covered in the first two sessions.

Tim summarized that ECM handles these cycles of document management capture:  manage – store – preserve – deliver.  Instead of using an ECM system to manage content, in many companies, people use email or file folders to manage documents and this can create chaos.  I did this with my Lotus Notes email and my file folders when I worked for a large consulting company.

The same thing can happen with the proliferation of Sharepoint sites. Tim found that one company has 528 team sites and they do not have 500 employees. So Sharepoint can add to the ad hoc chaos of content management if not used right. There is a real challenge here. In addition, even with companies that use ECM, most have multiple content solutions in play. Those companies that do not have multiple content management systems can get acquired by a company with a different system.  So there are many chances to develop silos of content.

To be really efficient, you need to be able to look into these multiple repositories from a single source. You also need to be able to audit what is happening. One bank wanted to bring together multiple systems: core banking system, loan processing, check imaging system, signature card application, and Sharepoint team sites housing Microsoft-centric content. The bank needed to implement a workflow solution for common business tasks, provide report management, single sign-on, single interface, extreme ease of use, best of breed solutions for addressing individual components. Tim said that Clearview connected all the silos while maintaining the systems as independent entities.  It provided a virtual content repository to meet above requirements. Clearview is built on built on .NET and can make use of appropriate Sharepoint functionality. Multiple touch points for users are provided through web services.  This session makes sense to me.