OpenText ECM
ECM (Enterprise content management ) - is a set of technologies used to capture, store, preserve and deliver content and documents and content related to organizational processes. ECM tools allow the management of an organization's unstructured information, wherever that information exists.
ECM employed the technologies and strategies of content management to address business process issues, such as records and auditing, knowledge sharing, personalization and standardization of content, and so on.
Alfresco Software
recently announced the availability of the first Content Management
Interoperability Services (CMIS) specification draft implementation. As
a contributing member of the draft technical specification, Alfresco is
able to offer a draft implementation of CMIS for developers who wish to
explore the draft specification.
Just as the major database vendors standardized on SQL in the
1980's, today's leading ECM vendors have developed a draft
specification with the goal of delivering and enabling interoperability
across content repositories. The draft specification is backed by
Alfresco, EMC, IBM, Microsoft, OpenText, Oracle and SAP.
The race to create behemoth ECM companies continues. This time, OpenText reaches across the Atlantic to snap up German DM/WCM vendor IXOS. IXOS bought Swiss CMS vendor Obtree last year to give it a small toe-hold in the Web Content Management space. This aquisition makes OpenText appear bigger at a time when software vendors are desparately looking to scale, but we wonder about the overlap with another recent OpenText morsel -- Gauss -- and note that the former Obtree (now IXOS) CMS product is unlikely to gain much traction in North America...Read about the acquisition
FileNet and OpenText also announced strong 4th Quarters. FileNet continued to close big deals from existing customers, but its stock got nicked when its ever-cautious management moderately reduced its guidance for 2005. Acquisition rumors have circled FileNet for years, but the company could be difficult to swallow. Nevertheless, we think a strong balance sheet and heavy emphasis on R&D bodes well for FileNet. Meanwhile, OpenText has attempted to grow through a bevy of perplexing acquisitions. Check out this OpenText conference call where several equity analysts try (and largely fail) to make sense of it all. Meanwhile, as CMS Report readers know, both companies share a lack of enthusiasm for Web content management...
|
|
