SAPERION leads the way out of the standards jungle
Differences and peculiarities of JCR and CMIS
November 5, 2009 – You would be forgiven for getting ECM, MoReq2, JCR, CMIS, and A/H1N1 mixed up. The large number of acronyms in our daily lives often makes it difficult to keep things straight. Sometimes it's hard to remember which ones refer to IT standards and which one is in the swine flu virus. SAPERION is a German company that specializes in enterprise content management systems and is more than happy to compare and contrast the JCR and CMIS standards. The first one we will address is MoReq2. But let's get one thing cleared up in advance: A/H1N1 may be a virus, but it will never infect an ECM system!
What is JCR?
JCR stands for Java Content Repository. JCR specifies a Java platform-API that provides a uniform way to access content. Content repositories are used with a wide variety of information systems for the purpose of managing all types of documents and associated meta data, primarily data sources with unstructured contents. Examples include Web Content Management Systems (WCMS), Enterprise Content Management Systems (ECMS), Source Control Management Systems, as well as e-mail systems. The JCR standard simplifies interaction between the application and its content repository by replacing a large number of specialized application and storage interfaces with a single application programming interface (API). This API is used by the content repositories. The results are lower costs and lower risks. As soon as a client or technical application has access to the JCR standard, the SAPERION repository can be integrated into the infrastructure with little expense. This significantly reduces the expense of repository integration; furthermore, costly adaptation and maintenance of proprietary interfaces are eliminated.
At the same time, the standard helps avoid formation of "content silos", which arise through application-based storage mechanisms and proprietary APIs; instead, it enables enterprise-wide access to content. In other words, SAPERION can function as a JCR-based content management system to centrally administer the full range of content from any application connected to the repository. SAPERION is a member of JCP (www.jcp.org) and contributed to the development of the JCR standard. The second version, JSR 283, was recently completed. Many manufacturers working in the ECM area support the standard. But there are also critics who say the standard is too complex and note that it can be used only in a Java environment, precluding participation by Microsoft. The advantage of the standard is that applications that utilize JCR can theoretically work with any repositories. Therefore, little additional work is needed to establish connections to Day Communique, Novell Teaming, and several other systems. SAPERIONvelocity also uses JCR.
Competing standard CMIS?
CMIS stands for Content Management Interoperability Services. This standard was recently released for public review. The CMIS standard is still in the definition phase. The standards committee is called OASIS (www.oasis-open.org). Most large international ECM manufacturers, including SAPERION, have joined the CMIS working group. Like JCR, CMIS is also meant to facilitate interoperability, but it is less sophisticated and therefore less flexible. Unlike JCR, CMIS is defined at the protocol level. This makes it attractive for companies like Microsoft, which also contributes to the definition. According to Volker John, Director of Product Management at SAPERION:
“Although a large number of providers have made contributions, it will still take some time before we know if it is actually accepted by the market. It is clearly useful for manufacturers to have the ability to manage documents through a defined interface like CIMS. But it remains to be seen whether end-users will find enough additional benefits over existing (sometimes proprietary) APIs. In fact, user interest has been quite restrained so far."
The CMIS standard is expected to be completed in early 2010.
MoReq2 is the third standard in the bunch
MoReq2 is the Model Requirements for the Management of Electronic Documents and Records and the third standard in the trio. SAPERION contributed to the development of this standard even though the subject of Records Management (RM) is still very underdeveloped in Germany. Unlike other RM-related specifications, MoReq2 is a listing of criteria for evaluating software systems and associated test scenarios. The EU encouraged the development of this standard in order to replace national initiatives and provide for greater harmonization. The German national standard is known as DOMEA (Document Management and Electronic Archiving) in IT-supported transactions. Due to the hesitation of some countries to adopt MoReq2, its use is limited. Acceptance among users and providers is also still small. At this time, there is only one MoReq2-certified product. In the United States, the standard has no significance because of the extensive usage of DoD 5015.2. The DLM Forum is responsible for advancing this standard and will meet again in a few days.
