Expanding Content Management

Two of the largest enterprise content management software developers, Documentum Inc. and Open Text Corp., are adding to their respective suites through new technology developments and acquisition.

Documentum is adding integration capabilities to its Enterprise Publishing Solution content authoring and editing tools as the Pleasanton, Calif., company makes more of a play for the publishing industry.

Next week, Documentum will announce Authoring Integration Services, a feature that allows its content management platform to integrate with authoring and editing tools such as Adobe Systems Inc.s Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign and Quark Inc.s QuarkXPress. The integration will allow content creators, owners and business users to contribute, manage, review and approve content using their tools of choice, Documentum officials said.

Automated workflows send content through the appropriate review and approval processes prior to publication. These workflows can be extended to include external partners, such as free-lancers, design agencies and printers.

In addition to Authoring Integration Services, Enterprise Publishing Solution includes Documentums Digital Asset Manager, eRoom Enterprise and Web Publisher. The company next week will also announce that all these applications will be based on the Documentum 5.2 application stack by the end of the month.

Documentum user Mark Maddocks said Enterprise Publishing Solution goes beyond a simple content repository to provide integration with authoring tools, plus workflow tools to move content through the publishing and distribution process.

"Were always looking for new revenue opportunities, so were looking for clear opportunities to reuse content," said Maddocks, vice president of product technology at Reed Elsevier Group plc. The London-based media company has deployed Enterprise Publishing Solution in a pilot. "Its easier to access that content when its in central libraries rather than individual silos," Maddocks said.

Open Text, of Waterloo, Ontario, last week announced plans to buy Web content management software developer Gauss Interprise AG, of Hamburg, Germany, in an $11 million deal. The move will expand Open Texts footprint in Web content management as it seeks to become more of a player for highly interactive, transactional Web sites, such as e-tailers and Web publishers.

In addition to Web content management, Gauss brings high-throughput business process management solutions and enterprise resource planning connectors for IBMs eSeries applications to Open Texts Livelink for integrated content management and collaboration.