ECM: It's A Whole New Ballgame — October Edition: SharePoint Meets ECM
By Mike Ball, Clearview Software

The ECM VARfest (sponsored by The Rheinner Group) was an excellent event where document and content related resellers convene annually to network, understand changes occurring in the market, and learn how to better position their businesses to achieve future success. I continue to be amazed by the visibility and the impact that SharePoint® is having on the ECM space. Of course, since the team here at Clearview is uniquely poised to ride the SharePoint wave in a favorable way, we are pleased by the momentum and visibility this has created for SharePoint-based solutions. At the VARfest, I spoke with the owner of a long-term and successful ECM reseller and he says it best: "Mike, in my 20 year history in this industry, I have never experienced such a compelling event that is having a short-term, and perceived long-term, transforming effect on the way I run my business." Even more telling perhaps is that there were a number of non-traditional ECM resellers at the event (companies that originated from the copier dealer landscape, for example) who were telling me that their customers were already inquiring about SharePoint and asking them what they could offer that incorporated a SharePoint strategy.

At the roadshow, as I currently understand it, one of the key messages is to suggest that ECM and SharePoint can "co-exist" in order to provide full ECM functionality while leveraging the value that SharePoint offers. Being a member of this ECM community for many years, I respect the need to protect the legacy ECM business, and understand that many of the traditional ECM vendors have worked with analysts to craft this message.