In our day to day work we find that we increasingly recommend the model to our clients so that they can do a quick sanity check as to where they as an organization stand, or to do a more thorough assessment. It seems to work well either way.

It remains free and fully open source – just click, download and use.  We do though ask that if you have had success (or otherwise) to let us know – and if you want to contribute and add to it further to do so and again keep us in the loop.

Here’s to the most successful ECM Maturity model of them all

In other words, it’s been useful — if something of a hidden gem.

Click to enlarge

Here at the Real Story Group we have also used it with our customers. As an example, see the picture above that shows how we applied it to help track the progress of a client over the course of a year.

We found that this type of visualization is a great way to quickly spot which areas need maximum attention and  you can then easily prioritize your efforts.

Do you have any experiences with the model to share? We’d love to know your story and/or any feedback. Some anecdotal feedback we have received has been quite amazing, with some of the world’s largest public organizations making use of it. And that is the whole point of us releasing it under community commons:  You can adapt it and adopt it, you can do what you will.

As my colleague, Jarrod mentioned in his post, we are working presently to update the model, incorporating community feedback. Truth be told we are rather overdue here, but it a voluntary effort and we have had other fish to fry, such as launching the Real Story Group!

Going forward, we also plan to add some tool-kits to the model. The tool-kits will include questionnaires and templates that provide you with a starting point to translate the model theory into practice. But we welcome your participation to make this a truly community driven initiative. So, watch this space — and let us know your experiences with the ECM3 Maturity Model.

• 11,000+ unique visitors to ECM3.org
• 3,300+ downloaders of the model
• Some exciting stories of people sharing their real-life experiences using the model (we will be sharing our own stories in some subsequent blog entries)

We know that version 1.1 of the model is long overdue, but I assure you that we’ve been collecting all of your fantastic feedback and will be making a concerted effort to publish version 1.1 in the coming weeks. From what we’ve seen so far, no major changes will be needed, just some minor tweaks here and there. However, if you feel inspired to add to and expand the model let us know, as we would love to see version 1.2 and even 2.0 at some future point.

Please continue to send your suggestions, comments, and examples of how you are using the model. Thanks for all of your help in creating something that is making a real difference in the industry, and do remember this is true open source – open commons, make use of it, it’s yours!

http://www.slideshare.net/jarrodgingras/introduction-to-the-ecm3-maturity-model

BTW: We have over 2000 downloads of the model as of today, and feedback we have received tells us the model is being widely used in larger organizations and by major consulting organizations all over the world….

However, its also very clear that we need to move more quickly to build a true community supported development environment for the model and  we plan to build that in parallel with 1.1.

So to those of you who have expressed an interested in being involved further,  we really appreciate your interest, and hopefully by late Spring we should have something more substantial in place to finally bring you on board with.

By the way – it looks like we are well over the 1000 downloads point as of today….

Thanks!

Alan

For the purposes of this model, we focus on the commonly understood scope of ECM as concerning principally document and records management, along with associated services and processes like imaging, workflow, and archiving, among others.  The model does not directly concern itself with Web Content Management (WCM) and related, publishing-oriented disciplines, although some of the concepts below apply to those programs as well.  Similarly, the model does not address data-oriented information management, such as Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing.

In theory, much in this document could pertain to cognate disciplines in the information management universe, but at that point, we thought it would get too abstract and lose its practicality.  (Erik Hartman, one of the participants in this effort, is working on a broader “Information Management Framework.”)  If the past eight years — since the term ECM came into vogue — have taught us anything, it is that enterprise document management and web publishing are two very different (albeit related) practices.  At some point, it might be worth putting together a WCM Maturity Model.  And as you might know, there are already several different BPM maturity models.

But, first things first.  Let’s tackle what is already an enormous problem set, in ECM.

You can learn more about this effort here.

And download the latest PDF version of the model here.

Find out how to participate here.