Preface

For a while now, we have been hearing a lot about collaboration in Enterprise space. We speak day in and day out to our customers who have recognized the need to have a tool for use within their organization for better and efficient collaboration. We talk to customers who have done implementations of proprietary software, and have faced all kinds of challenges including vendor lock-in, rigid code base, and expensive upgrades. In our previous book, Alfresco 3 Enterprise Content Management, we had first introduced Share. Alfresco had just introduced its collaboration tool back then. The aim clearly was to provide an open source alternative to Microsoft SharePoint, Documentum, Interwoven, and similar software. It is, after all, the most popular open source Java based CMS with over 1.5 million downloads, 50,000 live sites, 74,000 community members, and with more than 150 application extensions in forge.

Share has since evolved and has become a competent tool for collaboration functions within an enterprise. The impressive roadmap which Alfresco provides promises an exciting possibility as it is created using completely open standards. We at CIGNEX Datamatics have implemented Alfresco for many enterprises. We became the Platinum System Integration partner of Alfresco. As part of our implementation, we also train our customers, so that they are equipped with all the information required to manage their systems. We have trained many users, administrators, and developers in Alfresco. This book distils the hands-on approach of our training courses into a concise, practical book.

We have taken a sample and tried to build a case study around it to provide an easier, practical understanding of Alfresco Share. There are step by step examples. We have explained how the out-of-the-box features can best be made use of, as well as the other options that are available, and how they fit into the overall picture. Our aim is to help you take advantage of this book by setting up an efficient and an effective collaboration system for your company and customers.

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