A mature ECM system represents many development-years of effort with careful attention paid to security, workflow, data integrity, extensibility, and usability. It is unrealistic to expect even a dedicated programmer-analyst to build a skill set to match this challenge, particularly in an environment where the relatively low cost and accessibility of polished, pre-packaged line-of-business applications has seen most organizations move away from maintaining in-house development teams.
Yet, even if such an application could be produced in-house, development efforts could not end once the system was in place. A myriad of factors—both internal and external—would force continual re-development and customization. An organization's growth and changing environment necessitates extensive and costly updates to all of its systems, including ECM.
An application originally sized for a limited number of users will not scale well when extended to additional departments or branch offices, and will require considerable modifications to support multiple servers for load balancing and redundancy.
New data types and specialized file formats—including scanned image graphics, audio, and video—will require custom plug-ins, assuming the application developers had the foresight to build with a modular architecture.
Integrating the ECM system with legacy applications—or new applications—can be easily accomplished through the use of open formats such as XML, HTTP, or ODBC, but again only if the developers foresaw this need. Otherwise, extensive re-programming will be necessary.
Applications written to support only specific image capture devices will need to be revised to work with new hardware.
Other forces beyond the control of the developers will also necessitate ongoing customization.
New government legislation may require changes to document security, retention, and workflow.
Updates to the underlying language and framework, be it Java or .NET, frequently demand extensive re-coding and a complete cycle of testing and debugging. The same holds true for operating system updates. (Consider the notorious case of Windows Vista. Many applications and hardware devices that worked well with Windows XP were incompatible with Vista and had to be either updated or replaced.)
Alternatively, an organization can choose to shield itself from much of the added time and expense of unanticipated re-development efforts by purchasing a pre-packaged ECM system covered by a clearly defined software maintenance agreement.
Choose an ECM consultancy that will deliver a complete system that is easily upgraded and that will provide customizations to match your organization's changing needs.
"When asked what they sought most from an ECM solution provider, survey respondents indicated a desire to address ECM through packaged solutions, rather than through just a platform on which they themselves can build solutions. More than half, 69% of our survey respondents stated they seek solution-based products."— AIIM Market Intelligence 2008
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