Alfresco vs Huddle

May 27, 2023 | Author: Michael Stromann
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Alfresco
Alfresco is a Free enterprise content management system for Microsoft Windows and Unix-like operating systems. Alfresco includes a content repository, an out-of-the-box web portal framework for managing and using standard portal content, a CIFS interface that provides file system compatibility on Microsoft Windows and Unix-like operating systems, a web content management system capable of virtualizing webapps and static sites via Apache Tomcat, Lucene indexing, and Activiti workflow. The Alfresco system is developed using Java technology.
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Huddle
The Leading Client Portal Solution for Professional Services Firms. The most effective way to collaboratively work across teams, and with your clients and partners.
Alfresco and Huddle are both enterprise content management platforms that offer document collaboration and file sharing capabilities, but they have some key differences:

1. Scope and Focus: Alfresco is a comprehensive enterprise content management system that provides features for document management, workflow automation, records management, and content governance. It offers a wide range of functionalities to manage content across the organization. Huddle, on the other hand, is primarily focused on secure document collaboration and file sharing. It offers features like document approvals, task management, and team collaboration tools to streamline document-centric collaboration.

2. Deployment Options: Alfresco provides flexible deployment options, allowing organizations to choose between cloud-based, on-premises, or hybrid deployments based on their specific needs and preferences. It offers advanced customization and integration capabilities to tailor the platform to the organization's requirements. Huddle, on the other hand, is a cloud-based platform that provides easy and quick access to documents from anywhere, making it suitable for teams that prioritize remote collaboration and flexibility.

3. Security and Compliance: Both Alfresco and Huddle offer robust security features, but Huddle places a strong emphasis on security and compliance. It provides enterprise-grade encryption, access controls, and audit trails to ensure data protection. Huddle is compliant with industry standards such as ISO 27001 and GDPR, making it a suitable choice for organizations that handle sensitive or regulated data. Alfresco also offers security features and compliance capabilities, but it may require additional configuration and customization to meet specific security requirements.

4. User Interface and Collaboration Features: Alfresco offers a feature-rich user interface that supports collaboration, document versioning, and content workflows. It provides tools for content organization, metadata management, and search capabilities. Huddle, on the other hand, offers a user-friendly interface focused on document collaboration and file sharing. It includes features like document approvals, task assignments, and team workspaces to facilitate collaboration within and across teams.

5. Pricing Structure: Alfresco offers various pricing options based on the deployment type, user count, and additional features required. It provides flexibility in pricing to accommodate organizations of different sizes. Huddle follows a subscription-based pricing model, offering tiered pricing based on the organization's size and collaboration needs.

See also: Top 10 ECM software
Alfresco vs Huddle in our news:

2020. Hyland to acquire Alfresco



Hyland, a provider of content services, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Alfresco, a leading open-source ECM platform. Founded in 2005 by John Newton (co-founder of Documentum) and John Powell (former COO of Business Objects), Alfresco has established itself as a prominent player in the open-source ECM space. Based in Boston, Alfresco specializes in developing a cloud-native digital business platform that offers content services solutions to connect, manage, and safeguard critical information for organizations. Following the completion of the transaction, the entire Alfresco business is expected to be integrated into Hyland Software, Inc. This acquisition aligns with Hyland's vision of becoming a global leader in content services, expanding its presence worldwide and welcoming additional customers, partners, and highly experienced employees. Incorporating Alfresco's solutions enriches Hyland's portfolio of content services offerings and opens up new avenues for collaboration with the open-source community, driving product innovation.


2016. Alfresco is available as a managed service on AWS



Alfresco, a renowned provider of enterprise content management (ECM) and business process management (BPM) software, has recently unveiled the early release of its platform as a managed service, now hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS). This development enables users to conveniently access the platform as a single-tenant managed service within an AWS Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) environment. Furthermore, Alfresco is taking steps to streamline cloud deployment for customers who self-manage their AWS infrastructure, making it more accessible and hassle-free.


2016. Alfresco integrates its ECM and BPM



Alfresco has unveiled a significant integration between its enterprise content management (ECM) platform, Alfresco One, and its Business Process Management (BPM) platform, Activiti. This marks the culmination of years of concerted efforts to bring the two platforms closer together, effectively enhancing the functionality of both in managing business content and processes. With this announcement, Alfresco enters the competitive Process and Collaboration Management (PCM) market, providing enterprises with a comprehensive suite of offerings encompassing content management and content-driven processes. The integration seamlessly combines BPM, ECM, records management, and includes integrations with capture and e-signature vendors, delivering a holistic solution for enterprises in need of robust process and collaboration management capabilities.


2015. Alfresco enhanced integration of its ECM and BPM systems



Alfresco is enriching its ECM (Enterprise Content Management) and BPM (Business Process Management) platforms, namely Alfresco One and Activiti, through the introduction of new modules for analytics and media management, as well as enhanced BPM capabilities. These newly released components bring additional functionality to the platforms and foster closer integration between BPM and ECM. The enhancements build upon Alfresco's open-source BPM offering, which had already been adopted by many enterprises as a standalone BPM engine in their applications. Now, as an enterprise version, Activiti v1.0 offers seamless integration with Alfresco Share, Alfresco's collaborative tool. In addition, Alfresco has unveiled an Analytics Module, which can be integrated with any of the Alfresco products, providing valuable insights and reporting capabilities regarding content, processes, and events related to individuals.


2014. Enterprise cloud collaboration provider Huddle raises $51M



Huddle, a major player in enterprise cloud collaboration, has announced securing an additional $51 million in funding, valuing the company between $250 million and $300 million. Huddle's success can be attributed to two key factors: its robust platform and expansive customer base. The platform provided by Huddle allows companies not only to share and exchange files but also to collaborate on them collectively, offering features like versioning control and change tracking. The platform offers a range of secure services such as team collaboration, file sharing, task management, social collaboration, and mobile collaboration. Huddle seamlessly integrates with various third-party applications and supports multiple platforms, including Office, SharePoint, and Salesforce.


2014. Huddle launches secure document publishing patform



Huddle, a cloud collaboration and content management tool, has introduced a new secure document publishing platform accompanied by a comprehensive analytics dashboard. This platform empowers enterprises to measure, track, and engage with the files they share and publish. These functionalities enhance Huddle's existing intelligent recommendation engine. With this platform, enterprises can securely publish final versions of documents as read-only to a specific audience, while simultaneously monitoring all activities related to these files. When a document has completed the team collaboration stages and is ready to be shared organization-wide, Huddle's secure publishing platform becomes invaluable.


2014. Alfresco raises $45M to fight with EMC and Microsoft



UK-based Alfresco, a startup specializing in open-source enterprise content management, has secured Series D funding of $45 million. This investment exceeds the cumulative amount raised in all of its previous funding rounds combined. Alfresco is in competition with established services like EMC Documentum and Microsoft SharePoint, providing solutions for large organizations to effectively manage their diverse document storage across both cloud and on-premises environments. It offers features such as version control and compliance requirements across various devices, including mobile and PC. With the new funding, Alfresco plans to accelerate its business operations by enhancing sales and marketing efforts and expanding its range of cloud-based services. This expansion may result in direct competition with popular platforms such as Dropbox, Box, and Huddle.


2011. Alfresco created collaboration system for SMB



Alfresco's content management and collaboration system gained its big popularity thanks to the low pricing and availability of free open-source edition. But still it's pretty complicated solution that doesn't fit small business. But now Alfresco decided to fix this issue and released Alfresco Team which is designed for content collaboration in departments and small companies. It reminds Sharepoint Team Site or Box.net, but more functional and cheap. Users can create sites (workspaces) with different pages - document libraries, calendars, wiki, task lists, blogs, forums. Alfteso Team's functionality includes social tools (comments, ratings, Like buttons), activity streams, web-viewer (which lets you view even videos and audio files), mobile versions for iPhone and iPad, workflow-engine (implemented on Alfresco BPM), document converter (eg doc -> pdf). ***


2010. Alfresco launched free BPM engine



Alfresco loves to make problems for IT giants by its altruistic approach to business. For several years, this company is exerting pressure on ECM market leaders (Microsoft, IBM, Open Text, EMC, Oracle) by providing high-quality free/cheap open-source system Alfresco ECM. And now, the company decided to build communism in another, related IT field - BPM (Business Process Management). The new Alfresco product - Activiti is absolutely free, open-source BPM system, distributed under Apache License 2.0. To develop this system Alfresco (traditionally) enticed executives from competing project JBoss jBPM - Tom Baeyens and Joram Barrez. They were helped by the SpringSource (VMWare) developers. In result they built light-weight, fast and free product that is intended to revolutionize the BPM market. ***


2010. Document Management goes 2.0: Alfresco vs SharePoint



Document management systems (DMS) and related to them Enterprise Content Management systems (ECM) like all other IT solutions are gradually embracing Enterprise 2.0 technologies. This is a difficult move for them. Because DMS and ECM - are quite old and conservative technologies/systems and it's always difficult to change for old school. Besides the main DMS and ECM users are large companies and it's very difficult to upgrade them to the next level. Nevertheless, the progress goes on. Let's take a look on how the Enterprise 2.0 technologies are implemented in DMS and ECM nowadays: ***

Author: Michael Stromann
Michael is an expert in IT Service Management, IT Security and software development. With his extensive experience as a software developer and active involvement in multiple ERP implementation projects, Michael brings a wealth of practical knowledge to his writings. Having previously worked at SAP, he has honed his expertise and gained a deep understanding of software development and implementation processes. Currently, as a freelance developer, Michael continues to contribute to the IT community by sharing his insights through guest articles published on several IT portals. You can contact Michael by email stromann@liventerprise.com