When I first read Frank’s post on the Future of Content Management debate in Amsterdam, it made me want to buy a plane ticket for just this one session. I’ve always liked these kinds of sessions – keynotes with thought leaders, the analyst panel, the “One Minute with a Vendor” panel, etc. I find them spontaneous, “off-the–cuff”, surprising, and real. They let actual users with bonafide concerns put competing vendors and analysts “in the hot seat” — in a forum without notes, prepared remarks or static research documents. It’s a real-time google of some of the most interesting minds in the business.
Regarding the keynote panel questions, here are some points to ponder IMO. Comment on this post or Frank’s original to submit your questions directly to the Amsterdam keynote panel or vendor panel.

  • The portal market is not dead unless you’re an analyst. The “portal” – sans the focus on vendor revenues that often define the “market” – is a concept, a strategy, a (dare I say it?) KM goal – that seeks to improve the productivity of a workgroup or enterprise through a common environment that promotes collaboration, communication, and efficiency within disparate business processes. My corporate interactions over the last year prove indisputably that this “concept” is pervasive throughout business drivers for technology purchases. So, do predictions of portal market death represent a fine example of analyst-vendor-customer disconnect? Does the SOA momentum hint at a portal market re-birth under a different label? Successes from “last pure-play standing” vendor Plumtree suggest that death is premature.
  • As I’ve said before, market competition between best of breed versus enterprise suite is alive and well. For an opinion from the vendor trenches, a CMSWatch Point-Counterpoint interview is a good read.
  • In terms of the keynote panel’s discussion on “what is a content platform” and Longhorn impact, what about Tiger? It’s been a lot of fun to monitor the headlines over this question. Beyond that amusement, the serious focus on content and search from the OS players is certainly good fodder for the content platform discussion.

With less than a week to go before the conference, I’m still tempted to buy a plane ticket – but that tax refund is long gone. I’ll just have to rely on live-blogging.