TrustRadius Insights for Alfresco are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.
Pros
Intuitive User Interface: Users have consistently praised the intuitive and user-friendly interface of Alfresco, stating that it requires little training for basic functionality. Many reviewers found the interface clean and friendly, making it easy to navigate and understand.
Seamless Integration with Other Applications: According to users, one of the standout features of Alfresco is its seamless integration with other applications such as Drupal and Moodle. This integration allows for smooth collaboration and content sharing across platforms, enhancing productivity and efficiency.
Scalability and Performance: Numerous users have highlighted the impressive scalability and performance of Alfresco. They have noted that the system can handle a large number of documents without requiring significant server capacity. This scalability feature has been highly valued by users who deal with extensive document management needs
We use Alfresco to manage all the documentation we digitize from our customers. With Alfresco is easy to store it, sort and then search for it.
Being Open Source makes it very customizable, so we can adapt to our customers demand, that are very unique and we we're not able to do with other ECM solutions.
Pros
Storing documentation
Full-text search engine
Automate record lifecycle
Creating rules for documents and folders
Highly Customizable
Cons
ACA interface is very lacking
APS could have a fully Open Source version
Deprecation of important features in Community edition
Likelihood to Recommend
Alfresco works great for storing and managing a high volume of documents, of any kind of file format. You can even preview commonly used file formats (PDF, DOCX, XLSX, etc) and develop custom content transformers, to auto-convert files that are uploaded into the ECM.
Alfresco requires a beefy server to work great but it does pay off.
Alfresco Activiti is used as a BPMN modeling tool. Around 1000+ business process models are created using the same tool and [are] deployed. For the different types of requests, the respective workflows are invoked and manual tasks are created for various roles. Along with manual handling of tasks the auto-escalation and auto-close features are also used.
Pros
Creates tasks based on the roles configured in workflow
Tasks can be auto-escalated and auto-closed based on timer configuration
From workflows the external APIs can be invoked
Cons
REST calls should be improved in terms of configuration like scheduling the API call
No option to invoke legacy SOAP Apis
Even for minor issues the entire BPMN model needs to be shared with support team
The documentation needs a lot of improvement especially for activiti micro service adoption
Likelihood to Recommend
Easy integration with the external APIs Workflows can be invoked via REST call Wonderful swagger documentation for process REST APIs REST, MULE, CAMEL, Google Drive, and Box features are available with Alfresco Process Services The micro-service version deployment should be well documented and needs improvement
I have implemented Alfresco Content Services to solve complex enterprise problems for content service, record management, and process management. Using Alfresco Content Services, I implemented a central repository for document management and document approval processes between different departments. I have also integrated Alfresco Content Services with different applications like Portal (Liferay), SAP, DocuSign, LDAP, SSO, etc.
Pros
Document storage with metadata
Document versioning
Document workflow
Check-on and Check-out
Rest API for integrations
Easy customization
Fine-grain-level role and permission
Vibrant community support
Cons
User interface is not intituve
Customization of user interface
Dependency on partner solution for common use cases like content capturing and imaging (e.g., OCR).
Likelihood to Recommend
Alfresco Content Services is well suited as a backend document management service where the front end is different and Alfresco Content Services is used as DM.
Alfresco Content Services can be leveraged for document storage, metadata management of document, and document searches based on content or metadata.
Alfresco Content Services provide many customization options, making it usable for different scenarios.
Verified User
Professional in Information Technology (201-500 employees)
Alfresco ECM is often deployed at customer sites to enrich Elixir's own enterprise solutions, develop products for specific use cases, and orchestrate content and content processes that originate with Tango+ (Elixir's CCM platform). The ECM can support a single use case and/or scale to connect across functions and departments, depending on the business requirements and their evolution over time.
Pros
Archival and search and retrieval functionalities.
Organization and metadata applications for content processes and orchestration.
Scaling to serve more use cases and larger content stores and archives, as well as migration to the cloud/hosted environments.
Cons
Alfresco Process Services and Alfresco Application Development Framework integration makes for best functionality/application of ECM.
Use case alignment - Marketing content and documentation of specific business requirements and user stories being available as reference material/documentation.
Integration with multiple silos for content.
Likelihood to Recommend
Large, scalable use cases for content repositories and orchestration are well-suited. However, smaller use cases could be supported by Sharepoint or other common content services applications, as well.
Verified User
Account Manager in Research & Development (201-500 employees)
Alfresco Enterprise Content Management is being used by the digital teams of our organization. The software is specific to doing certain marketing functions for client-facing platforms, hence it is not used outside of specific departments. It is also used for content management across our site that can be changed and managed in real time.
Pros
It facilitates real-time updates to manage content throughout the website without any code drops.
It helps with digital marketing to customers.
It also has good mobile support when it comes to managing content.
Cons
Enrichment of current content is not so easy, we have to reload the content to do so.
There is no support for XQuery.
Content transformation is absent.
Likelihood to Recommend
Alfresco's tool is excellent. It is a rich collaboration tool, with simplified web designing for people who are less tech savvy. It has real ease in the editing and managing of image files. There is freedom in software modification and customization to fulfill customers' needs. It has dynamic development, ease of accessing current updates, and rich functionality. It has out of box scalability. It is also compatible with Windows as well as Unix, and has excellent integration with both the Office Suite and Open Office.
Verified User
Analyst in Information Technology (10,001+ employees)
We implemented Alfresco ECM to replace Documentum system which is used in different departments across the organization. The users vary from Sales, HR, Legal, Records management, IT etc, to store employee records, legal documents, project specific documents.
Main business problems Alfresco addressed were: - We had to replace Documentum system which has 70 TB of content and more than 1000 active users in a shorter time. Alfresco licensing is affordable and we implemented ECM with Alfresco. - Integrations with the third party are easy and flexible, ex: SFDC, Reporting tools, external publishing systems. - The workflow is so flexible and can develop small to big complicated business processes. The business users can have a single user interface to finish the workflow having interacted with other third-party tools.
Pros
The organizations demand a hybrid approach, running the same software applications on-premise and on-cloud with the same architecture. The local which can act as a master, can be synced with the cloud. This allows collaboration between internal and external users with selective privileges and access control.
The Workflow architecture is quite robust and scalable platform. The business users can create business processes easily without any technical knowledge.
The service integrations comprised in BPM paves the way to develop complex BPM solutions.
Cons
ECM and BPM have different licenses and different user interfaces. The users often gets confused about which one to use and it plays a bigger factor in deciding the ECM platform. The workflow engines in Alfresco are redundant, the inbuilt ECM has workflow engine and Alfresco offers activity product as BPM.
The UI development is little complicated, the knowledge of UI framework is required. These are not simple java technologies to learn.
Documentation of Alfresco really sucks. There is no single place to refer the architecture, development/deployment guides. The information is scattered across multiple websites with different login credentials.
Likelihood to Recommend
Well Suited: - Companies which look for content management solutions with simple to complex workflow requirements. - Companies which don't look for complex functionalities in content creation like DITA, web authoring, co-authoring etc. - Fast deployment, easy adoption, and scalable teams can look into this.
Less Appropriate: - Dynamic content publishing, co-authoring, and collaboration.
Verified User
Professional in Information Technology (51-200 employees)
The main intent of Alfresco is to implement a unified ECM system and promote the idea of a paperless office. Alfresco was recommended to most of my company clients due to its robustness and its compatibility with Ephesoft scanning management. Also, the cloud and on-premises integration is a great way for both on and off site sync.
Moreover, it's cheaper than Microsoft SharePoint.
Pros
Document management i.e. it promotes a paperless office
Cloud solution i.e. ability to access content outside your work zone
Collaborative web content
It also brings content and process together
Cons
Ability to scan directly using Alfresco scan features
Ability to integrate with social network platform.. i.e. upload and share to Facebook or Instagram
Interface should be much more user-friendly and light
Likelihood to Recommend
Alfresco is more suited for almost all working environment that deals with paper, companies which are trendy, vibrant media, techie, courier logistics companies and insurance companies as well. Irrespective of the environment, it less appropriate to introduce the usage to people above 40 who are less interested in any form of new technology development.
Quality Matters uses Alfresco Enterprise Content Management throughout the organization for internal and external content management. Version control and collaboration across teams were two needs for adopting Alfresco. Content is shared across multiple platforms and audiences. Alfresco allowed us to integrate with our public website (Drupal) as well as our learning management system (Moodle), using one document repository, ensuring content is current across all channels.
Pros
Integration with other applications, namely Drupal and Moodle, was simple and works beautifully.
The UI is intuitive, clean, and friendly. Users have required little training for basic functionality.
We have been pleased with the overall system performance of Alfresco Enterprise Content Management.
Cons
Our greatest need for Alfresco ECM is the functionality to generate public URLS for content. We've accomplished this through our Drupal integration, but at times, it would be very useful to be able to make Alfresco content publicly available without this added layer.
Many of our other concerns have been addressed in the latest version and we look forward to that implementation.
Likelihood to Recommend
Alfresco Enterprise Content Management is well suited for any sized organization with content management needs.
Alfresco is being used across the whole organization for document management/retention, blogging, audit trails and approval workflows. We have integrated Alfresco with our home grown database. As soon as a deal is entered into it, a site creates with standard folders and rules that make metadata assignment easier or completely automated. All parties working on the deal are able to easily access and save documents to the right place. Workflows are used for obtaining and tracking deal approvals based on credit submissions. Blogs are used to make the sharing of information interactive and are part of our knowledge management strategy.
Pros
Basic workflows are easy enough for casual users to set up and utilize.
Cloud sync capability provides a great way to share documents with third parties and to use as a backup system for critical documents.
Alfresco mobile app makes it easy for those on the road to access, approve and share documents.
Folder rules are easy to set up and make assignment of metadata easier to automate.
Cons
When users are members of 1000 sites or more, certain features such as sites dashlet do not work properly.
There isn't any integration between Alfresco and Microsoft Outlook for Mac. IMAP integration has flaws that can cause loss of email.
Mobile app doesn't have a site search feature. this is problematic when you have thousands of sites and you need to access one where you have not saved it as a favorite.
Likelihood to Recommend
If you have regulatory or business needs that require saving email into Alfresco and you are using Outlook for Mac, you may need to perform significant customization to make it work. Additionally, if you will have users that will be members to a large numbers of sites over time, you need to thoroughly explore what functionality will be degraded or lost and how to mitigate the impact. Other than these two scenarios, I cannot think of any scenarios where Alfresco would not be well suited to an organization's needs.
