The first part of our ECM Outlook 2008 discussed the emergence of Microsoft Sharepoint as a legitimate ECM application. Even though SharePoint is the 1000 pound pink elephant in the room, other issues like compliance, collaboration, and lower deployment costs continue to drive the ECM industry. Part two discusses five additional key factors and common concerns.

“There has to be a better way of dealing with all of this unstructured information lavishing on shared drives,” says Clark. “Being efficient and compliant at the same time is important. I don’t think one is necessarily more important than the other. Although I’m starting to see a lot more push on the efficient side, corporate governance is not a fad. But we need be to more efficient. We need to out compete.

1) Compliance is still a market driver, but other issues are just as pressing.

Numerous government regulations such as Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Department of Defense 5015.2, CFR Title 40-Protection of the environment, or U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 21 CFR Part 11 continue to help drive the ECM industry.

Compliance is still a driver and has gotten even more intense, says Wayne Crandall. Additionally, companies are confused on implementation strategies; particularly in regards to civil procedures & roles.

“Because of the collaboration workflow functionality built into ECM suites,” says Crandall. “It’s important to ensure that compliance databases are adhered to, audit trails are in place, and inspections are put in place.”

However Greg Clark of C3 Associates says there’s slightly less focus on compliance and more focus being placed on organizational efficiency. Particularly, a recognition that more efficient ways are needed to manage an increasing mass of unstructured data.

You can read the full story here .