What is Alfresco

• Ease-of-Use – Alfresco's philosophy is that ease-of-use is about using concepts that you already know. People understand shared file drives so Alfresco made their repository look like a shared file drive. People understand email rules so rules can be put on folders as simply as creating email rules. People understand portals and Google-like search so Alfresco is as simple to search as Google. People understand Yahoo-like browsing through categories so Alfresco was made as simple as Yahoo categories to browse.

• Shared Drive Interface – The Alfresco repository has a native CIFS (Common Internet File System) shared drive interface. This has been achieved using pure Java. This allows a user to literally go to their C: drive or desktop and drag-and-drop content into Alfresco, or they can simply select File/Save As. This is exactly like using a shared drive. Because of this a user can reuse their desktop and Microsoft Briefcase. They can even drag content out of Alfresco straight into the briefcase and it works because the Briefcase thinks it is accessing a Microsoft shared file drive.

• Workflow – Alfresco also wanted to create workflow that was logical and reflected the way teams really work. People often do not use workflow because it is too hard. People will typically take a folder, put a document inside it with a yellow sticker on the front with a lot of names written down so that when someone has read it they just cross their name off. So Alfresco mirrored this approach when they designed a really simple folder based workflow.

• Smart Space – For a product launch or any repeatable project an organization will have a series of folders, a series of template documents that they need and a series of processes to go through to review or produce collateral, product definitions etc. With a Smart Space all elements of a product launch can be encapsulated and a user can develop rules around what formats they are distributed it in. This Smart Space can be cloned to enable consistent launches internationally.

• Properties & Meta-Data Extraction – If a user drags a Word document from their desktop into Alfresco, they can automatically extract the meta-data or properties. There may be content owner’s name and keywords or document titles and it can all be extracted without being retyped into Alfresco, enabling the user can search upon them at a future date.

• True Zero Footprint Client – Alfresco believes that “ease-of-use” should also extend to ease of application roll out. Alfresco has made this simple because there is nothing to install on the user’s desktop. This is called a True Zero Footprint Client. Therefore, not only is Alfresco's ECMS is as simple to use as a shared drive, or google search but it is also very simple to rollout.