KnowledgeTree & Mindtouch review
I have been exploring many different enterprise 2.0 related open source software and there were two products that came up tops – KnowledgeTree – enterprise grade document manager and Mindtouch – enterprise grade Wiki. Many of the products I have reviewed have highly similar functionality. They do what they are meant to do, store / retrieve documents or collaborate through the Wiki platform – no surprises in this space. However, some of the stuff that I specifically looked at were UI ease of use, scalability, support and APIs. Let’s start with Knowledgetree.
a open source turn-key document management software designed for business people to install, use and purchase. Collaborate with team members, securely store all your documents and ensure regulatory compliance with absolute ease. With no vendor lock-in and with source code readily available, KnowledgeTree provides a more flexible, cost-effective alternative to proprietary applications.
When I first created a demo account for myself on KnowledgeTree, I browsed around the software and it took me nothing more than 2 mins to figure out the site navigation and general functionalities. It was that simple, things were where there as you expect it to be and no surprises, no dramas. UI was totally simple on the eyes and the site in general was pretty. Excellent features includes drag and drop access to the document repository for Windows, integration into MS office applications, customisable “iGoogle type” dashboard, MetaData support, workflows for managing document generation and integration to your applications via SOAP Web Services. See the full list here.
KnowledgeTree API documentation is good and very comprehensive. Scalability is pretty clear from their list of clients and also from clarification with the sales team at KnowledgeTree. Support from the sales team has also been very very quick and answers were clear. I am very impressed. If you are looking for an open source document manager, look no further, Knowledgetree is the one.
MindTouch Deki Wiki is a enterprise Wiki software. The key to Deki Wiki success and popularity is its ease of use and its SUPER excellent widgets and Web Services support. Its pretty much up to your imagination on what you wanna mashup and display on screen. Check out their service extensions.
For a quick overview of Deki Wiki, please watch video below
When I first tried Deki Wiki, everything was clear and I understood all functionalities very easily. There were no surprises, no dramas. It was super easy to use, WYSIWYG editor is GREAT and there is even imaging support! This is great stuff. I totally love this. I have four words to describe Deki Wiki – Simple, Scalable, Extensible and Flexible.
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However, having said all these, organisations are moving toward enterprise content management (ECM) software and such standalone software is not very helpful in providing a single view of the enterprise. You can argue that organisations can build integration layer between these products but if it came as a package, then a suite of such standalone tools that works nicely together producing an ECM effect, ultimately this would give IBM Filenet, Microsoft SharePoint and similar products a run for their money.
Michael said,
FileNET will turn out to be dominant, since they are built on “cartridge” architecture for fast plug and play..
As for Sharepoint,,i am not so sure if it should be called a ECM. It looks just like a Document Manager, trying to play catch up with Web 2.0.
Sean Lew said,
Well they will be a big player for sure. However, the price point between open source and Filenet is hugely different and unless organisations need the benefits of cartidge architecture, I don’t see why people would not consider open source.
Sharepoint, like many Microsoft products, is always trying to play catchup. =) Well they have many features a ECM should have but maybe not records management… still more room for them to grow
Gregory Buchenberger said,
Great post!
Aaron Fulkerson said,
Thanks for the assessment!
Sean Lew said,
No worries Aaron. Keep up the good work.
Abu Adham said,
I 100% agreed with commenter about Knowledgetree. Experince with ECM enterprise product (such as “not to mention”) I woudl say yhat Knowledgtree is truely Opensource product that can meet Enterprise company requirement.
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