The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has awarded IT infrastructure, solutions and services provider, Datacentrix, a pilot project contract for the implementation of an Alfresco open source enterprise content management (ECM) system.
Alfresco uses Java for the high scalability required by open source intranet applications, and other e-business solutions that form the foundation of corporate computing. Datacentrix is an authorised Gold Partner and reseller of Alfresco open source document and ECM systems in South Africa.
"By selecting to trial Alfresco, the CSIR is supporting government's stated preference for going the open source route," says Jacques Loots, Datacentrix ECM business unit manager. According to a CSIR spokesperson: "The pilot project will be completed at the end of June and, if successful, the Alfresco solution will be considered for implementation at the CSIR."
Loots added that compliance issues are driving ECM take up in both government and the private sector. "The National Archive Act is a factor in that it contains provisions for keeping all financial, human resources and business-related documents for periods ranging from one to up to 40 years."
As a repository running on commodity hardware and software, Alfresco allows ECM systems to support more users with less hardware, and lowers the total cost of ownership by utilising a subscription licence model.
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