Replacing FileNet, CMOD and OpenText with Cloud Native Technologies

One of the most common reasons we see an increased interest in retiring FileNet, CMOD and OpenText applications are that these legacy applications cannot take advantage of everything the cloud has to offer. As more companies embrace the cloud and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) with AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, locked-in IBM clients are starting to realize that their existing implementations are crippling their ability to remain competitive.

While many applications can be moved TO the cloud, not every solution is architected to run IN the cloud and take advantage of the cloud architecture. Software that runs ON the cloud typically does not take advantage of the distributed computing offered by a cloud delivery model.  For example, a CMOD application that is moved to the cloud is not architected to take advantage of the cloud benefits listed below. That CMOD application is simply being managed in the cloud and is not able support auto-scaling, elasticity and resiliency in the cloud without additional manual processes.

This article will walk through the benefits provided by an ECM solution that truly takes advantage of running IN the cloud. Each of the cloud architecture capabilities listed below lead to significant business benefits including cost savings, staff productivity, auto-scaling, and business agility.

• Modular Architecture – Applications that run in the cloud, are built from the ground up with a modular software architecture. A modular architecture involves separating the different functions of an application into independent yet interrelated pieces. Modular software allows components to be more easily reused. For example, a module that is developed to auto-name or automatically apply security to documents upon ingestion could be re-used across many use cases. This allows applications to be more easily extended. Modular architecture also allows for individual components to be upgraded, simplifying upgrades. Lastly, a modular architecture enables best of breed components to be integrated for everything from single sign-on, to scanning/capture, integration with your LOB application, AI, Natural Language Processing, and many others.
• Containerization – When each part of the application and process is packaged in its own container, this allows the application to become independent of the environment and be highly portable. The same container can be executed on a development, test, or production system, and if the application supports horizontal scaling, multiple instances of a container can be started or stopped to add or remove instances of the application based on user demand. This eases deployment between environments and allows applications to auto-scale in the cloud. Auto-scaling for peek instances and the ability to release resources when no longer needed (saving significant costs) is a key tenet of any cloud-based solution. Legacy ECM applications that are not containerized cannot take advantage of these cloud features.
• Cloud Content Stores - ECM solutions that utilize cloud-based content storage containers (AWS S3, Azure Blob Store, etc.) provide a significant number of architectural advantages. Using object stores, such as S3, allows other services to have direct access to content without going through expensive proprietary API calls for access. Cloud streaming services, additional security and encryption, and integrations with other on-premises and cloud-based applications all benefit from direct content access. Additionally utilizing cloud content stores allows content to automatically be moved to a lower-cost storage tier as content ages. Legacy ECM solutions that do not use the Cloud Content Stores have a slower response time and cannot take advantage of these advanced cloud services.

FileNet, CMOD, OpenText and other legacy platforms are not cloud native and require significant retooling to take advantage of cloud technologies. While they were able to meet the needs of large-scale deployments in the 1980’s and 1990’s, they are not positioned for the exponential growth that the cloud infrastructure affords to more modern cloud-native Alfresco and Nuxeo solutions offered by Hyland Software.