Microsoft is an enterprise content management (ECM) contender with an excellent product strategy that will unfold during the next two to three years. Microsoft currently lacks ECM breadth with a portfolio that provides basic document management and Web content management (WCM), both separate products with independent administration and repository services. In addition Microsoft’s document management (DM) and WCM products both lack essential features, like workflow for DM and WCM. However, the vendor’s vision for the information worker and the Office 12 road map — with its emphasis on collaboration, content life-cycle management, knowledge discovery, and employee self-sufficiency — give Microsoft a potentially strong future in ECM from an infrastructure perspective.
