XML solutions

Not only is Thunderhead reporting record growth for the first half of this year, they are also announcing a new component to their Thunderhead NOW enterprise communication platform. This new component called NOW Context Engine forms the core of Thunderhead’s new analytic and management information functionality. What is the NOW Context Engine In May, we brought you the news that Thunderhead had released version 4 of it’s flagship solution NOW with 2 new modules and role-based functionality. They appear to be high on Forrester’s list of innovators in the interactive communications category.

The GAO has examined the use of XML in the U.S. federal government and found present XML initiatives lacking focus and depth. The report itself has some shortcomings -- it focuses unduly on transactions (and scarcely on CM) and federal-wide vocabularies -- but we still think it's a useful clarion call for a higher XML profile in the federal arena. Now if only there was a similarly detailed review of federal CMS efforts. We know of a plethora of federal agencies heading out one-by-one into the marketplace to procure CMS solutions, in some cases like so many little lambs headed to the slaughterhouse...Read the GAO XML Report (pdf)

DocWise is a sophisticated component-based document management solution. It can store virtually any type of electronic file—Word and Excel documents, scanned images, emails, faxes, XML, ERM reports— as objects with a predefined structure so that they can be retrieved quickly by multiple users.

Slowly but surely, people are starting to figure out how to take advantage of the vaunted XML capabilities in Office 2003 (esp. Word). Unfortunately, many early solutions revolve around the same admixture of Word templates and Visual Basic widgets that also characterized previous attempts to glean structure and neutral mark-up from earlier editions of MS Office. But the good folks at OSCOM are beginning to work on basic approaches just using XSLT. OSCOM's work seems to mirror other promising attempts elsewhere -- it's becoming apparent that you need to make 3 to 5 passes over WordML to do something useful to it...Read more about OSCOM's WordXML project

It was perhaps inevitable that e-forms and content management would begin to converge at some level. For the past couple of years, various CMS vendors -- especially the hosted solutions, but also some traditional software players -- have been offering the ability to develop forms as just one more content type, and even manage the incoming flow of data as yet another content type. Now Ektron joins the fray with its latest version of CMS300, which sports a nifty interface for business users to create forms and then direct the data inputs hither and yon. We didn't see native XML output in this first version, but suspect it is coming...Check out Ektron's form generator

Altova accelerates development and integration projects with software, services, and solutions that enhance productivity and maximize results. As an innovative, customer-focused company and the creator of XMLSpy, MapForce, and other leading software development and data integration tools, Altova is the choice of over 1.5 million clients worldwide and virtually every Fortune 500 company. With customers ranging from vast development teams in the world's largest organizations to progressive one-person shops, Altova's line of software applications and custom-tailored professional and educational services fulfills a broad spectrum of business needs.Concerning document, content, and knowledge management, Altova products and services assist in the creation, dissemination, and utilization of information throughout the organization. Among other things, information architects rely on Altova's wares to facilitate the collection, structuring, federation, and presentation of mission critical data

The E-Mail Management Suite relies on an open XML format for data storage, which ensures assures that all of yourarchived data — e-mails, attachments, digitized paper, and so on — is securely retained for as long as you need it, with better accessibility and reduced storage and back-up costs.

Integrated eForms management brings value to the organization by allowing it to reduce operating overhead, increase productivity, improve responsiveness, and gain competitive advantage for the enterprise. The embodiment of the design, deploy, and process framework is FileNet Forms Manager, a proven, XML-based eForms management solution that represents the next generation of eForms management.

Software AG, makers of the Tamino XML repository product, think you don't. They are integrating Tamino with a growing number of XML-aware CM products. The latest is Intranet Solution's Expedio...See the Intranet Solutions Release

The MS Content Management Server (formerly nCompass Resolution) just won a Crossroads 2002 "A-List" award. In bestowing honors, Crossroads noted the product's relative lack of complexity and reduced need for collateral professional services. These are indeed nice attributes -- for the Mid-market -- but not for the Enterprise, where companies require sophisticated XML services and connectivity to Oracle. Microsoft did a careful job upgrading Resolution, but as a consequence, the product is not yet a true .NET server....See the Microsoft product specs