Should You Be Concerned About ECM Consolidation?

Recent mergers and acquisitions have changed the ECM (enterprise content management) landscape, but change isn't always bad. Learn how this trend will benefit your business.

A small fish is eaten by a big fish that, in turn, is eaten by an even bigger fish. In the business world, this is a common visual used to illustrate vendor acquisition. In recent years, no industry has better exemplified this metaphor than the ECM industry. Over the past two years, some major ECM corporations have been consumed by other industry vendors or major IT infrastructure companies (e.g. Oracle, IBM, EMC). The most notable of these acquisitions include Open Text's acquisition of Hummingbird, IBM's purchase of FileNet, and Oracle's acquisition of Stellent.

While a certain level of merger and acquisition activity is expected in any industry, the amount of consolidation that has occurred in the ECM space in such a short time has many people taking notice. To some, the ECM consolidation trend is not only confusing from a who's who perspective, but is also evidence of a volatile market. Businesses with this negative perception may be putting off buying an ECM solution until the market shows more signs of stability. If you are one of these businesses, you may change your mind once you understand why ECM consolidation is occurring and the potential benefits it can have for your business.