Summary: Alfresco announced its new 2016 Winter Release for ECM and BPM – both of which are helping it to win numerous new customer accounts.
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Event: On February 9, 2016, Alfresco announced Alfresco One 5.1 and Activiti 1.4. The announcement was made via a press release.
Analysis
Alfresco has emerged as a solid replacement choice for legacy Enterprise Content Management (ECM) offerings, in part due to their customer focus and regular updates to their product line. The focus on core ECM and BPM has allowed it to develop a product offering that is helping enterprises transform their legacy processes.
Under the leadership of CEO Doug Dennerline, Alfresco has been on a mission to become a compelling alternative to existing ECM Providers. Given the accounts where Alfresco replaced existing ECM platforms, such as Documentum, it is becoming clear that they are becoming a go-to replacement alternative for legacy ECM Systems.
Digital Transformation
At the heart of many issues facing enterprises is analog to digital. Paper processes slow down enterprises and that is one of the reasons that Alfresco has seen success – it is the combination of content management and workflow that allow for automation. This makes Alfresco a player in the emerging business application space Aragon refers to as Digital Transaction Management.
Agile Development and Innovation
Besides the new capabilities in the current release, the shift that we see them driving is a regular cadence of innovation, thanks to an Agile development model.
One the things that helps Alfresco is its community Open Source Model. Developers can contribute to the Community and then those innovations can be added to the production release when validated.
Opening up the Process
One other capability that is helping Alfresco is the fact that Activiti can integrate with other Mobile Content Management capabilities, such as Box or Google Drive. Not all BPM offerings can federate with multiple repositories, so this gives Alfresco an entry point into an account, even if they are not ready to replace their existing ECM system.
Hybrid Cloud – Delivered
Most content is still stored on-premise, but enterprises want options. Alfresco now offers a full Hybrid Cloud option, which is great for enterprises in transition. We like this approach, since it offers choice to enterprises who still need on-premise capabilities for some of their business units.
Mobile Content is the Future
Alfresco’s mobile-enabled APIs are also an area of differentiation. Part of the reason for this is many transformation projects are centered around the need for a mobile first experience. Alfresco joins others, such as Box and Accellion, with this set of capabilities. Many other providers do not yet offer their content services via APIs.
Aragon Advisory
- Enterprises planners need to look at Hybrid options from Alfresco and others.
- For Hybrid Cloud ECM integrations, carefully evaluate how federated search will work.
- Make sure that content processes can be enabled via Mobile first Apps.
- Enterprises should look to consolidate legacy ECM and BPM providers who are not innovating on a regular basis.
Bottom Line
The new era of digital business applications that eliminate legacy paper processes is what digital transformation is all about. Enterprises should inventory their current business processes and look for providers that can help to modernize and mobilize their content focused processes.
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