Whether you're new to content management, or you've been at it for far too long, as I have been, you've probably noticed by now that most of the larger CM vendors, namely Documentum, Stellent, Divine, Vignette, and Interwoven, aren't very hospitable to non-clients/non-partners when it comes to detailed information about their products.
Sure they'll talk to you if they believe you're serious about buying a CMS, but what if you're in the early stages of your research, or developing your CM requirements, or you're writing a comparative analysis, article, or thesis on CM, or you simply need more detail than you know you're going to get from a sales presentation - what do you? Normally, you would have to rely upon bits of information gleaned from datasheets, whitepapers, and conversations with sales engineers. That's usually about as useful as a PC without a monitor. What really helps is to read the actual installation, admin, and user documentation. Not only would the documentation help you to understand how each system works, but it would help you to understand [to some extent] how easy or difficult these systems are to use in practice, and how they compare to your current processes and applications. Unfortunately, many vendors, especially the larger vendors, like to guard their documentation behind login access to "customer support" sites - an unbelievably poor practice that continues to this day. I've read all the end-user documentation from every major and minor vendor in the market, and there's nothing in any of it that would justify guarding it under lock & key, and certainly nothing so revolutionary, so innovative that it couldn't be disclosed to the public after the commercial release of the product. At a minimum, vendors should make their admin and user guides available for download right alongside their product datasheets, FAQs, and whitepapers. Despite their objections, everyone would benefit. Fortunately, we have the Internet - where you can find anything you need, if you know how to use it properly. Here are a few links to get you started. These links have been up for more than a year, year-and-a-half now, but don't be surprised if they disappear by the weekend - rest assured the vendors would be responsible. Divine (entire product line): http://dcs.gosynchrony.com/ps/dcs/documentcenter.jsp Vignette (this is V6, though SS4 and V5 are available too): http://ntmktg1.conseco.com/Vignette/ Interwoven (v4.2): http://www.med.utah.edu/wrc/content/interwoven.html Stellent: http://esi.sony.ca/stellent/help/tutorial/introduction/welcome.htm Documentum (Korean 4i user site - some 5, English documentation): http://www.dmadmin.net/ and try: http://www.dmdeveloper.com/ Well, it seems you've got a lot of reading to catch up on, so I'll leave you now with a statement I feel I am well-qualified to make. Never trust an organization that hides its end-user documentation behind a customer log-in. You may find out later that it wasn't worth the price of admission. Joe -- http://cms-list.org/ more signal, less noise.
