Interview: Munwar Shariff, Author of Alfresco 3 Enterprise Content Management

Munwar Shariff is author of Alfresco 3 Enterprise Content Management Implementation which shows readers how to customize, use, and administer this powerful, Open Source Java-based Enterprise CMS.

Munwar Shariff is the CTO of CIGNEX,leading provider of open source Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solutions for businesses and government agencies.

He has worked as the chief architect and manager of engineering teams for 18 years in the areas of system software, Internet applications and mobile applications for customers in the United States, Japan, Germany, UK, Hong Kong, Malaysia and India.He is an expert in Content Management Systems (CMS). Since co-founding CIGNEX in late 2000, he has successfully delivered more than 80 CMS applications using various open source technologies. He has written a number of articles on open source CMS, he is an experienced trainer, and a frequent speaker at conferences related to this topic.

Munwar earned his MS in Digital Electronics and Advanced Communications from REC Surathkal, India. He has authored two technical books on open source CMS, Plone Live and Alfresco Enterprise Content Management Implementation.

His blog can be found at: http://alfrescobook.blogspot.com

Packt: How did you find the overall experience of writing your book for Packt?
Munwar: This was my second book with Packt. It is really fun working with Packt team. I have got lot of technical support, moral support and marketing help. More than anything, I feel that I am part of the team. They understand the practical issues, work with my schedule (though I was busy traveling) and align the entire support staff to release the book on time.

Packt: During the writing process, did you come across any issues/ difficulties that affected your writing and how did you overcome these?
Munwar: We started writing about the new features which were not officially released and there was no documentation. Some functionality has changed (including screenshots) during the course of writing this book and we ended up writing few chapters twice. We waited till the latest (stable) version of the product is released, compared the features of the product with those covered in the book. At the end, all 4 authors worked extra time to release the book on time.

Packt: Whilst writing your book, did you find that it overshadowed personal life in any way? How did you deal with this?
Munwar: I relocated from USA to India. It took me more time to settle down in India than expected, due to the book. I have two young children at home (6 yrs old son and 4 yrs old daughter) and I could not spend more time with them. My wife took care of the move (to the new place). My co-authors (Amita in particular) have taken up some additional chapters which reduced some work load for me.

Packt: Was there anything interesting that happened during the writing of the book?
Munwar:We wrote a chapter called “Advanced Collaboration using Alfresco Share”, which is basically a new functionality to provide alternative to Microsoft SharePoint product. One of our customers is looking for demo to evaluate open source alternative to Microsoft SharePoint and EMC Documentum. We were able to demonstrate the superior functionality of Alfresco over closed source alternatives (contents of this chapter) and helped customer save money by selecting Alfresco.

Packt: How did our Acquisition Editors help you - what kind of things did they help you with and how did they support you throughout the writing process?
Munwar: The Acquisition Editor for my first book is David Barnes (Packt). For the very first chapter, he criticized my approach and fixed by writing style.He did not focus a lot on English or grammar. He focused on the sequence we teach skills to the readers in a gradual manner to create interest. I picked up lots of tricks and tips from him. I really enjoyed interacting with him almost every day while I was writing that book. He is one of the reasons for me to write my second book with Packt (Alfresco 3 Enterprise Content Management) and now the third book.

Packt:Our authors usually have full-time jobs whilst writing for us. Was this the case for you and how did you approach managing your time?
Munwar: I have a full time job in presales where I do not have specific working hours and end up working all the time. I have received lot of support from my company CIGNEX. Many examples mentioned the book was contributed by my colleagues which really helped me to write the book in lesser duration. Most important thing is that I have very understanding wife and lovely kids at home, which helped me in managing time.

Packt: What benefits did writing a book bring to your specialist area?
Munwar: I strongly believe in Jim Rohn’s quote on hard work, “For every disciplined effort there is a multiple reward”. Fortunately for me the subject of the book (“Alfresco CMS”) is part of our core solution offerings in business. Customers will also feel confident when they talk to the author of the book on the subject. The book resulted in more business to us. Also we were able to use this book for our internal and external training programs.

Packt: Do you have any tips for other authors, or tricks that you learnt whilst writing, that you'd like to share?
Munwar: If you are writing a technical book, think about the skills you are teaching, rather than the knowledge you are imparting. Then think about some educational tasks that would epitomize those skills. Also, think "what's the first thing a reader will want to learn here". Then keep adding to it in a way that will make sense to them, always teaching them progressively more useful skills. Writing in the way I've outlined is generally easier too. You rarely get that "how on earth am I going to explain that" feeling, because the chapter flow means that you are always presenting the reader with the information that, if they were there, they'd be asking for. You know what they want to find out next, and you tell them.

Packt: Do you have any advice for other authors who may be interested in writing for Packt, but are still unsure?
Munwar: Discuss your book ideas with Packt team. Whether you are an experienced author or a first time author, you always get very good guidance and appropriate support from the entire team at Packt. Packt takes care of all the logistics for the book including marketing so that you could dedicate your 100% of the time on improving the quality of the book. Author must have fun and enjoy writing a book.

Packt: What projects, if any, are you working on at the moment?
Munwar: I love to be associated with Packt publishers. My next book is being planned by Steven Wilding (Acquisition Editor at Packt) on a subject called “Alfresco Web Content Management”. I am working on the outline now. I will be happily writing for this book for the next 6 months.

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