Good bye, content islands! How CMIS will change the world

Classical document and enterprise content management is an old hat and reaching its limits. Enterprises need fast access to all their crucial information, no matter where it is actually stored. The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) is about to release the new standard for Content Management Interoperability Services. CMIS will lead to business applications providing exactly that: One unified work environment for data, documents and processes independent from the underlying back end systems. Good bye, content islands!

According to a survey published by the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) more than 50% of the respondents have more than ten Enterprise Content Management (ECM) repositories in use. CMIS will help these systems growing together such that they could beneficially be linked or managed in one unified work environment. Furthermore, CMIS will lead the way to even further developments e.g. the integration of processes and data from other business applications.

CMIS - Technological Independence

The German WeWebU Software AG is a maker of standard software for Enterprise Information Management (EIM) and a member of the OASIS CMIS Technical Committee that defines the new standard. WeWebU's products do already combine data and processes from a wide range of ECM platforms in one unified, process-oriented work environment. WeWebU OpenWorkdesk, a cutting-edge suite of EIM applications with an intuitive Web 2.0 front end, makes file management, business process management (BPM) as well as search and retrieval a mere child's play even for untrained users. With CMIS it will be interoperable with almost every ECM system. Thus, it will be usable in a wide range of cross-repository scenarios and will allow customers to access their complete information infrastructure. WeWebU plans the completion of its OpenWorkdesk for CMIS in the first half of 2010 soon after the final release of the CMIS specification by OASIS.

"The sooner, the better", states Stefan Waldhauser, CEO of WeWebU Software AG. He expects a lot from CMIS: "CMIS will transform the ECM industry. 25 years after the breakthrough of the SQL standard for databases, CMIS will lead to a comparable boosted growth of the market for Content Enabled Applications. It will open the floodgates for innovative, content-centric applications that can run on top of different ECM platforms." Contrary to similar standardization efforts, CMIS will become a big success since it is backed by all major software companies like IBM, EMC, Microsoft, Adobe, Oracle, SUN, Alfresco, SAPERION, SAP, and Open Text. Stefan Waldhauser is sure that all these vendors will support CMIS with their products: "Because they know that in a few years CMIS will be a key to successfully selling an ECM product. Or would you buy a database system today that could not easily be accessed in a standardized way by various applications?"

The Vision: Managing Information Instead of Contents

Thinking further, CMIS is the first step in the direction of overall Enterprise Information Management that replaces distinct solutions for managing data, contents and processes discretely. It is not a pie in the sky that documents and business processes from different ECM and BPM systems will go hand in hand with data from different data bases and business applications like ERP, CRM and Business Intelligence (BI) systems. Using only one work environment for all enterprise information does not only mean a high level of operating comfort and data consistency, but also provides competitive advantages. "Having all information at hand whenever you need it is the key to fast and profound decisions and successful up-to-date business. While your competitor is still searching for the information he needs, you have already made your decision", says Dr. Rainer Pausch, Head of Products and Marketing at WeWebU Software AG. He is sure that CMIS will provide another benefit by leading the way to the separation of applications and back end systems: "Independence from single vendors will move the focus away from technical questions and towards business matters. Future business applications will provide what users really need and not only that what technology makes possible. And CMIS is the first important step."

About WeWebU Software AG

WeWebU Software AG is the specialist for Enterprise Information Management. With our standard products, enterprises can access their complete information infrastructure via a unified, process-oriented working environment. Thus, they reduce costs, increase their employees' productivity, come to decisions faster and better, and make their whole enterprise more agile.

WeWebU Software AG operates internationally. It cooperates with leading EIM manufacturers and consulting firms and is an IBM Advanced Business Partner as well as Alfresco Systems Integrator & Solutions Partner.

The continually growing customer-base of WeWebU Software AG consists of e.g. Bayerischer Rundfunk, SAPERION AG, Siemens AG and DATEV e.G., financial institutions like Hamburger Sparkasse, Sparkasse Bremen, UniCredit Leasing, Visana Group, SUVA and NÜRNBERGER Versicherungsgruppe as well as several US federal and state agencies like the California Department of Public Health.

www.wewebu-software.com