Standard web services interface comes from EMC, IBM and Microsoft

They have now been joined by Alfresco, Open Text, Oracle and SAP, and the companies say they intend to submit the content management interoperability services (CMIS) specification to OASIS (Organisation for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) for its standards processes. Melissa Webster, programme vice president, Content & Digital Media Technologies at analyst IDC, explains that the goal of CMIS is to slash the IT burden around multi-vendor, multi-repository ECM environments. The specification will also benefit ISVs (independent software vendors) by enabling them to create specialised applications, capable of running over a variety of content management systems. “Many companies today are struggling with how to unlock the full value of their data when they have multiple content management solutions dispersed throughout their organisation,” she says. “Currently, marrying these into one integrated system – or migrating content between systems – costs the IT department a lot in time and money. Given the need for a standard that will enable customers to access disparate repositories, today’s announcement certainly seems like a very positive step in the right direction.”