The collaborative capabilities of Facebook are to prove shallow compared to future enterprise content management (ECM) applications, it has been claimed.

Writing on the FASTForward blog, Jevon MacDonald explains that the future of ECM platforms is likely to extend beyond "two applications sharing a little bit of data over their garden walls."

His comments could indicate a future where document conversion takes place on the system or where an image viewer is used to access files in many different formats.

"I believe that data will become more accessible, be more end-user directed and will be a fulcrum for collaboration," MacDonald adds.

But he dismisses the suggestion that such collaboration is likely to be achieved within enterprises through software which appears as a clone of a social networking site such as Facebook.

However, at present, he concedes that some ECM platforms leave him feeling uncomfortable when he logs in – and that he typically blames the application for that sensation.

Equipping ECM systems with an image viewer or document conversion tool could help to eliminate some of the negative sentiment surrounding their usage.

MacDonald previously recommended giving talented employees time to experiment with their intranet platform in order to identify more efficient ways in which it may be used.