EMC Documentum and Microsoft SharePoint reveal a vast divide in both resolve and vision.
EMC will tell you that Documentum is the obvious choice for enterprise implementations managing very large data and content inventories. EMC begins in the basement (with disk and server) and provides infrastructure that content-able implementations can exploit for the end-users benefit. Documentum is first and foremost a server backend, independent of any given UI framework and can be viewed as a content aware RDBMS layer above the traditional data layer.
Microsoft developed SharePoint from the user back to the server. SharePoint is indeed an interface first and provides platform architecture designed to support the experience. Not surprisingly, the nuts and bolts of SharePoint rely on other Microsoft technology to perform. SQL server with the addition of file streams is somewhat equivalent to the EMC Documentum Content Server role. SharePoint however achieves the functionality in a single scalable layer as opposed to two in the Documentum world.
Business Logic
A few years ago EMC Documentum held the crown for providing best in class business logic integration via the Business Object Framework that allows integrators (consultants) to write and register specific Java classes to execute business specific (non-Documentum) logic triggered by library services events (save, write, lock, view, etc…). The BOF capability allowed implementations to directly extend the Documentum DFC API and is quite efficient.
SharePoint business logic is largely workflow driven and much more asynchronous in nature than the EMC BOF layer. Lately improvements in .Net and Microsoft SharePoint’s best friend K2 has begun to fully exploit the SharePoint vision and much more synchronous “composition” based business logic can be applied to event triggers specific to content type items, lists and webs in a fashion that does NOT require a heads-down programmer to create or maintain. Again, the implementation starts with the experience and the time a user spends extending SharePoint functionality is largely spent working through the consumption tool (Browser).
Documentum’s answer lies in the newish Process Engine and UI. Process Engine introduces the ability to perform no-code workflows (aka K2) that are (or at least can be) event driven and defined visually through a thick windows client. Future releases will be optimized to provide a more synchronous execution of successive automatic workflow activities and in time the functional offering will be a competitive K2 alternative. Due to the close relationship between K2 and Microsoft I don’t think we will ever see a Documentum compatible offering although this would provide great benefit to many clients.
Cloud Capability
Without doubt Microsoft SharePoint, especially 2010, is the clear leader with regard to “cloud-ability”. There is no shortage of hosting partners providing both SharePoint and Exchange in a multi-tenant environment for extremely low customer investment levels. Microsoft itself is hosting Exchange, SharePoint, Live Meeting, Communicator, and Dynamics CRM at incredible monthly per-user rates. From experience trying to offer Documentum Services in an operational model (no capital expense) to clients is an impossible challenge with regard to turning a profit. The largest stumbling block is not the sales model either (although change is needed). But rather the server architecture is not written with the cloud in mind. Microsoft on the other hand is now releasing Office/SharePoint 2010 expressly to improve (if not completely mature) the cloud model.
Virtualization is the Foggy Future
Only time will tell, but if history is a reliable forecast, EMC needs to be thinking complete rewrite. It’s time to reorganize the very good server and client functionality into a softer cloud focused architecture. As customers continue to strive to reduce operating costs the current trend to virtualize server infrastructures with VMWare and Hyper-V will move to a more cloud like implementation when we will finally let go of the server mentality. Within 3 years I would be surprised to see large companies accept new software that must be provisioned at a server layer.
Comments are Welcome…
5 comments
1 ping
Chris Campbell says:
March 11, 2010 at 11:49 AM (UTC -5 )
Note: Part of this message was also cross-posted to Word of Pie.
This mostly concerns the Business Logic section and won’t address the points you raised regarding the usage of the “Cloud-ability”. I feel that you mistakenly imply that the Process Engine is “new” (or newish). The Process Engine is really just a name change for something that’s been included with Content Server since the 4.x days. The heart of the code *hasn’t* changed.
Being old doesn’t mean that it’s outdated, instead is an indicator that EMC got it right the first time. The Business Object Framework, has been enhanced and supplemented by Documentum Foundation Services. Frankly, there are few limitations on what you can do with it.
You didn’t go into any detail on how the K2/MS combo is going to overcome the current nightmare that workflow customization currently is in SharePoint. Event triggers are nice (and something that’s been in Documentum for years) but you’re assuming that these folks using SharePoint already have that foundation built in their installations. Better late than never, but to use these features is going to take considerable retrofitting.
The workflow capabilities of Documentum are light years ahead of Microsoft in 6.5 and without the pain and effort required. Give me functionality *NOW* rather than betting the farm on a release later this year and another two years to learn and implement it.
For those people who have both platforms, my recommendation is to skip the MS Workflows and use Documentum as your backend and for your workflows.
Ed Alexander says:
March 11, 2010 at 2:19 PM (UTC -5 )
Let me start by explaining the nature of Documentum Process Engine. Process Engine should not be confused with the traditional workflow engine in Document 4i, D5 and indeed even D6. The old engine executes tasks on the content server itself using the worker daemons (usually ~5 per server). D5 introduced BPE. Business Process Engine was transitional and allowed for workflow to scale without overwhelming the base content server. Essentially BPE consisted of the addition of a host attribute to dm_job allowing specific jobs (like workflow) to be dedicated to specific hardware. BPE was just another instance of the content server (same docbase) that only executed workflow tasks. Clients connected to the primary instance and BPE executed the automated tasks and routing.
Process Engine is a mature implementation allowing all workflow to be executed in the application server (much like SharePoint oddly enough). I am sure that you have noticed EMC moving more and more functionality to the BEA (now JBoss) java method server with each release. One of the goals of this architecture change was to remove the weak link in multi-platform implementations, the original hard compiled API, DMCL.
Process Engine is better compared to K2 or BizTalk than the default workflow engine shipped OOB. The base workflow capabilities provided by SharePoint 2007 are a good direct comparison. Both the base Documentum workflow and SharePoint via Designer offer like capabilities and with the edge going to Documentum due to the BOF layer. Although you really need to step up to process engine to build no-code event driven workflows.
Ed Alexander says:
March 11, 2010 at 4:25 PM (UTC -5 )
My response to comment on word-of-pie blog ….
Actually,
Apples to Apples
Microsoft SharePoint and EMC Documentum are kissing cousins in the latest Gartner Magic Quadrant (pre SharePoint 2010) with Microsoft in a slight lead [see CMS Wire].
Just to back up the claim, take a look at the pharma industry moving into SharePoint based FDA submission tools. Additionally, the last two banks I have worked for are moving into SharePoint as well. Don’t think that EMC does not need to compete with SharePoint for business in their traditional markets. EMC currently holds an advantage in records management and is soon to move on to its second generation composition model rapid CEVA development toolset. My personal belief is that when Documentum gets their technology direction focused (leave Adobe Flex behind) and update the composer toolset we will see lower prices and a push into the SMB market and cloud based services.
EMC does have a great product for removing BLOB storage from the SharePoint site collection (not Documentum though).
Best Regards,
Ed
Paras Jethwani says:
August 15, 2010 at 5:08 AM (UTC -5 )
Hello,
I am curious to understand why you think that Documentum architecture is not suitable for the cloud? They support virtualisation and with the new DSS even search will support virtualisation.
What aspects of the architecture do you think – make it unsuitable for the cloud?
thanks
Ed Alexander says:
August 15, 2010 at 8:24 AM (UTC -5 )
Thanks for the comment Paras…
Certainly DCTM has been moving in the right direction with CMIS (via DSS) support and refactoring much of content server into the JBoss layer. As I have stated before the license model has not been inviting to a service provider model (SAAS) as evidenced by the lack of offerings. Documentum continues to be an on-premise solution.
Filestores may be another item ripe for upgrade. While EMC provides multiple methodologies to abstract file storage from the physical disk volumes, I am not aware of many cost effective mechanisms for achieving endless storage with acceptable retrieval times (or time to first page view in imaging solutions). EMC Centera is fantastic on-premise solution and a great model, but perhaps an Azure based solutions would better fit the bill allowing for the emc content server to more appropriately be scaled to an unlimited number of CPUs dynamically without regard for the management of virtualized hardware or disk.
I have been and remain interested in creating such a configuration and would entertain partners in this endeavor which would need to include migration methodology, search, image viewer, etc…
Regards,
Ed Alexander
Dissecting a Documentum-SharePoint "Comparison" « Word of Pie says:
March 10, 2010 at 8:57 PM (UTC -5 )
[...] 2010 by Pie Saw a tweet today that was pretty exciting. It was referencing a "comparison" between SharePoint and Documentum. I was initially excited. I’d love to see [...]