Wcm offerings
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.
The slow but steady maturation of the Web CMS marketplace finds vendors continuing to develop industry-specific solutions. This phenomenon does not have the depth you would see if you were looking for an imaging and document management system, where you could find numerous resellers intimately acquainted with your industry. Nevertheless, the ongoing development of vertical WCM applications should be welcome news for solutions buyers. CMS vendor Ektron has been quietly developing specialized solutions and now has offerings for various industries, including the rather active markets in higher education and healthcare. It's probably no coincidence that Ektron has been one of the few CMS vendors to develop a significant reseller channel...
The acquisition was perhaps predictable, since the two companies have had a partnership for 3 years now. But neither company invested terribly much in working together and the two product sets don't closely interoperate, so to that extent the timing is a bit of a surprise. I think RedDot got a good deal: €44M in cash for a revenue stream of €15M (in 2004). For Hummingbird's part, the company needed to add a WCM solution to its product offerings, and RedDot has a growing profile, especially in North America. Prospective customers of either solution (Hummingbird's heavyweight DM and RM vs. RedDot's mid-market WCM and DM) should not expect major changes. However, existing RedDot customers should be prepared for the more aggressive upselling and maintenance negotiations that come with working with a public company.
|
|
