Document Management Repository - Oracle UCM vs SharePoint

Question

Need help in choosing the right solution to develop a document management repository. Can someone point me in the right direction.

Answer 1

I haven't used Oracle UCM, but I've used SharePoint quite a bit, so take that for what it's worth:

Use SharePoint if and only if:

1. You already have Active Directory set up (and well)
2. You own SQL Server and have a DBA
3. You want more than just document management. SharePoint does none of each part of what it does better than any other competitor. But, it does put them all together much more seamlessly than anybody else. The breadth of SharePoint is incredible. Its depth, however, is not quite there, yet.
4. The majority of your enterprise uses IE. SharePoint works on other browsers, but it's a bit more frustrating to new users of it when it's on Firefox or Chrome.
5. Most of your documents are in Microsoft Office. SharePoint's document management is okay, but as soon as it's all Office documents, it leaps ahead. Office 2007 (and a bit in 2003) has native SharePoint hooks that are fantastic. People can manage the documents seamlessly from within the app, not just via the web.
6. You don't want to do a ton of custom development around it. SharePoint does have development hooks, and they tell you it's great to develop for. In reality, there's a lot of hoops you have to jump through, and you're always playing in the SharePoint world.

Now, SharePoint is supposed to get a lot better come 2010 (or so I hear), so if you can wait till that release, I would hurry up and wait.