Another key question as we head into the new year…

1: Does Microsoft hold the IM key?

The past year saw some serious consolidation in the enterprise content management market - Stellent was bought by Oracle earlier this month, Filenet by IBM in August, OpenText merged with Hummingbird, and Interwoven has been cosying up to Microsoft (though there's no talk of marriage there yet). But as the IT giants come lumbering into the information management industry, can anyone hear the sound of a culture clash? The information industry (in which content is king) is being forced into alliances with technology and communications companies (for whom data delivery is king). The two do not make easy partners. In 2007, the information industry will have to come to terms with the fact that most users want easier, cheaper access to information, while the IT industry will need to better understand new groups of users – information professionals, content managers, compliance officers and many others – who want to control and regulate information. The two are opposing forces, and for most people involved in the information industry, the next year will be another of change, pain and agonising compromise. Whoever comes up with a solution that can satisfy both parties will be a winner – and the only company I can see with the DNA and track record to do so, is in fact Microsoft. It has satisfied both consumer and corporate marketplaces in the past with Windows; will it be able to do that double-edged trick for information users and information managers in future?