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Topic: Collaboration

Alfresco tackles the SharePoint lock-in with a key

Summary: Is the SharePoint lock-in any better if you've got an open source key? Alfresco Version 3.0 has added SharePoint Protocol support .

Dana Blankenhorn

By Dana Blankenhorn for Linux and Open Source |

John Newton, Alfresco CTOReaders with long memories may recall how last year Matt Asay, Alfresco executive and C|Net blogger, whom I've taken to calling Big Money Matt (pure jealousy) was screaming about how evil Microsoft SharePoint was.

It's a new type of lock-in, an Electronic Content Management (ECM) strategy as dangerous as Office or Windows itself, he warned.

Is the SharePoint lock-in any better if you've got an open source key? Alfresco Version 3.0 has added SharePoint Protocol support . (The press release is now online.)

Asay's British-based boss, John Newton, is making the press calls on this one.  He is also answering those "vision" questions on his own blog.

You can thank Microsoft for this, Newton says. It was Microsoft's release of its SharePoint Protocols which made the new capability possible.

Will an open source ECM be able to challenge Microsoft in the marketplace? Only a little. But for many customers a little can go a long way.

Topics: Collaboration, Enterprise Software, Microsoft, Software

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5 comments
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  • Not really

    Remember, Alfresco is a competitor, looking to compete monetarily against Microsoft, so all the statements made have to be viewed from that angle, and many will.

    Some companies creating open source products are not necessarily doing it with the customer's best interest in mind, either.

    "Sure it will interface with [i]everything[/i] else. And with the right amount of money sent our way, we'll work on that for you..."
    AllKnowingAllSeeing
    Reply Vote

    • Alfresco is a joke

      That Matt Asay guy has turned his CNet blog into a FUD machine against SharePoint and M$ in general. Many posts were filled with blatant lies and got rebuffed by other posters with fact yet the guy keeps FUD pumping.
      LBiege
      Reply Vote

      • sorry you feel that way

        Frankly I find Matt's insider view interesting, and try hard to contrast it with a more outsider view here.
        DanaBlankenhorn
        Reply Vote

    • This may be why Matt hasn't written about it

      It might be seen as unethical for him to be blogging about something his company has done on a media blog engine.

      So I got the story. Lucky me.
      DanaBlankenhorn
      Reply Vote

  • Can you defend the title you used?

    How can your title say that SharePoint locks you in and then write a blog that admits Microsoft has published interoperability documentation, proving that there is no such thing as SharePoint lock-in? It is almost as ridiculous as all of those who write:
    [i]You have no choice but to buy a computer with Windows on it. That is why I bought a computer with OS X on it.[/i]
    NonZealot
    Reply Vote
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