Cape Town-based software developer Jam Warehouse is to release a new version of its open source document management system KnowledgeTree in November.
The version will incorporate features suggested by clients who want specific customisation and from a survey of the user base done by Jam Warehouse, says MD John Thorne.
"What we have found is with document management systems people generally want the same things around meta-data and version control," he says.
KnowledgeTree is available for free download on SourceForge.net, an open source software development site with more than 100 000 registered projects.
"We knew KnowledgeTree was popular because it has consistently been among the top 100 most active projects on SourceForge in the past few months," says Thorne, "but it`s been very encouraging to see just how widely it`s being used and how happy users are with it."
KnowledgeTree has been on offer for about two years and the next version will include a "WebDAV" interface that allows users to view documents through a Microsoft Windows Explorer interface, gives drag-and-drop functionality and allows other third-party developers to create added functionality.
The survey done by Jam Warehouse of about 450 of its users shows that KnowledgeTree is installed in a number of sectors, from education through manufacturing to non-profit organisations, mainly in North America and Europe.
Use in government is relatively low, but Thorne believes this sector represents one of the biggest opportunities for KnowledgeTree in SA.
"Only 2% of our users at the moment are in Africa, but with government getting strongly behind the open source movement that should grow," he says. "We think everybody in the public sector should be evaluating KnowledgeTree."
The size of current users is also encouraging, he says. "We`re seeing it being used in some very big organisations." Of the respondents, 22% had more than 50 users utilising KnowledgeTree and 12% had more than 100 users.
KnowledgeTree also presents good opportunities for consultancies, Thorne says. "It doesn`t have to be us that implements it," he points out. "Anybody can use it and generate a revenue stream through configuration, implementation and change management projects, for example."
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