diff --git a/plugins/alfresco-maven-plugin/pom.xml b/plugins/alfresco-maven-plugin/pom.xml
index 910a1505..6e0e9e80 100644
--- a/plugins/alfresco-maven-plugin/pom.xml
+++ b/plugins/alfresco-maven-plugin/pom.xml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
-        <version>2.5.1</version>
+        <version>3.0</version>
         <configuration>
             <source>1.6</source>
             <target>1.6</target>
@@ -87,4 +87,4 @@
       </plugin>
     </plugins>
   </reporting>
-</project>
\ No newline at end of file
+</project>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 66c6c210..faa52735 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -103,8 +103,9 @@
     </distributionManagement>
 
     <properties>
+        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
         <maven.archetype.version>2.2</maven.archetype.version>
-        <maven.release.version>2.3.2</maven.release.version>
+        <maven.release.version>2.4</maven.release.version>
         <maven.site.version>3.2</maven.site.version>
         <maven.changes.version>2.8</maven.changes.version>
         <maven.site.url>https://artifacts.alfresco.com/nexus/content/repositories/alfresco-docs/alfresco-lifecycle-aggregator/latest</maven.site.url>
diff --git a/poms/alfresco-sdk-parent/pom.xml b/poms/alfresco-sdk-parent/pom.xml
index 4f439652..81b98e10 100644
--- a/poms/alfresco-sdk-parent/pom.xml
+++ b/poms/alfresco-sdk-parent/pom.xml
@@ -87,24 +87,26 @@
     <app.log.dir>${project.build.directory}/</app.log.dir>
     <app.log.root.level>WARN</app.log.root.level>
     
+    <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
+
     <!-- Maven Plugins Versions used by the SDK -->
-    <maven.compiler.version>2.3.2</maven.compiler.version>
-    <maven.clean.version>2.4.1</maven.clean.version>
-    <maven.dependency.version>2.4</maven.dependency.version>
-    <maven.enforcer.plugin>1.1.1</maven.enforcer.plugin>
-    <maven.resources.version>2.5</maven.resources.version>
-    <maven.surefire.version>2.12.4</maven.surefire.version>
-    <maven.install.version>2.3.1</maven.install.version>
+    <maven.compiler.version>3.0</maven.compiler.version>
+    <maven.clean.version>2.5</maven.clean.version>
+    <maven.dependency.version>2.6</maven.dependency.version>
+    <maven.enforcer.plugin>1.2</maven.enforcer.plugin>
+    <maven.resources.version>2.6</maven.resources.version>
+    <maven.surefire.version>2.13</maven.surefire.version>
+    <maven.install.version>2.4</maven.install.version>
     <maven.jar.version>2.4</maven.jar.version>
-    <maven.war.version>2.2</maven.war.version>
-    <maven.release.version>2.2.2</maven.release.version>
+    <maven.war.version>2.3</maven.war.version>
+    <maven.release.version>2.4</maven.release.version>
     <maven.buildhelper.version>1.7</maven.buildhelper.version>
     <maven.jetty.version>6.1.26</maven.jetty.version>
     <!-- This is used for the site deployment procedure (override in your POM as needed) -->
     <stagingDirectory>../../target/staging/poms/alfresco-sdk-parent</stagingDirectory>
     <!-- Alfresco Maven plugin in use throughout the SDK -->
     <maven.alfresco.version>1.1-SNAPSHOT</maven.alfresco.version>
-    <h2.version>1.3.158</h2.version>
+    <h2.version>1.3.170</h2.version>
     <h2-support.version>1.5</h2-support.version>
     
   </properties>