Shared services can cut ECM costs

Gartner has suggested that enterprises could save one fifth of the cost of their content management systems by employing the use of shared services.

The analyst firm said that firms could benefit by taking on a cloud-based service from an external provider, or by creating an internal environment in which services or functions are shared across the business.

Gartner added that this could be performed using a service oriented architecture model, and should be backed with FAQs, reusable software and how-to wikis.

"Businesses have long struggled with multiple enterprise content management [ECM] deployments which have, in turn, created information silos and caused businesses to pay for separate sets of software licences, maintenance and support skills for too many ECM vendors," said Mark Gilbert, research vice president at Gartner.

"The troubled economy has forced many IT organisations to cut ECM costs, but traditional approaches to consolidating are slow, complex and costly. The shared services, or ECM-as-a-service, approach promises at least a partial solution."

Gilbert explained that a shared approach could provide firms with economies of scale, let them reuse their infrastructure, improve interoperability and knowledge/information sharing and improve the IT department's credibility.

However, he warned companies to consider their specific needs before moving onto such an architecture, as it would not suit all. Gilbert suggested that organisations should assess whether shared services make sense for them and, if they do, to establish a governance model for service and support.

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