A sneak peak at some of the KMExpo exhibitors
The KMExpo '98 show floor will be the place for hot news from leading companies in the knowledge management space. Here is a look at some of the early announcements planned for Oct. 13 to 15 at McCormick Place in Chicago, as well as some recent announcements from companies on the floor.
BackWeb Technologies (Booth 3003, www.backweb.com) recently announced two new client interfaces to enable customers to distribute content and view BackWeb channels through Microsoft Outlook and Internet Explorer 4.0.
"These new clients achieve two key goals for BackWeb," said Eli Barkat, BackWeb's CEO. "First, we're providing our customers with added flexibility to design knowledge distribution systems that best achieve their unique enterprise objectives, and, second, we're providing them with a road map to converge their enterprise knowledge into a single interface."
"By integrating BackWeb content directly into Outlook, users can view and manage channel content that is delivered to them by the BackWeb server alongside their Outlook E-mail, schedule, contacts and task information," said Judy Lew, product manager at Microsoft (Booth 2706, www.microsoft.com). "Enterprise users can truly benefit from the addition of BackWeb's knowledge management capabilities to the comprehensive messaging and collaboration functionality of Outlook."
BackWeb's Knowledge Distribution solutions are designed to deliver knowledge in ways that capture users' attention, resulting in increased speed of innovation, fully informed decision making and enhanced competitiveness.
Centillion Digital Systems (Booth 1933, www.centilliondigital.com) will showcase its digital asset management system Destiny V 4.0--to be released later this month. Viewable by either Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer, graphic images, text, video and audio files can be retrieved, collaborated upon and distributed electronically. Destiny V 4.0 can be used with files stored on a company intranet or a Web site. Features include free text and structured searches with version control by file numbers.
Cranel (Booth 712, www.cranel.com) is announcing a new VAR Partner Program to provide incentives to its resellers. Gold Partners must purchase at least $100,000 annually from Cranel and are eligible for various business development, sales development and engineering/integration programs.
Platinum Partners, who purchase at least $400,000 annually from Cranel, receive those benefits as well as help with trade shows, lead referrals and invitations to events showcasing new technology, products and services.
Cypress (Booth 1203, www.cypressdelivers.com), formerly known as ISC Cypress, recently announced a new customer install for its Integrated Document Server. Marketing services provider Helm (Highland Park, MI) is using Cypress' Integrated Document Server to route mainframe print files to a Postscript printer as part of a solution with Unisys (www.unisys.com) and Xerox (www.xerox.com). "We've sped up the printing process and are now able to get packing labels to production two hours sooner," said Michael Wacht, Helm's director of information services. Helm also plans to use the system to customize mainframe batch reports and segregate them for various customers, eliminating days of programming changes.
"With the old system, I would have to program each change, and that could take anywhere from 25 to 30 hours to accomplish," said Wacht. "(The new system) handles all of this automatically within minutes."
Fulcrum (Booth 2215, www.fulcrum.com), a PC DOCS' (www.pcdocs.com) company, recently announced an agreement with Teltech Resource Network (www.teltech.com) as part of the Fulcrum Alliance Network Program. Teltech helps its customers develop knowledge management strategies and to link such solutions directly to business objectives. Teltech will deliver consulting and integration services around Fulcrum's flagship offering, Fulcrum Knowledge Network.
Microsystems Technology Inc. (MTI, Booth 1806, www.mti-info.com), developer of the forms processing software solution OCR for Forms, recently announced a deal with document management and storage hardware solutions provider Datalink (www.datalink.com). The combination is designed to provide resellers with software and hardware expertise in addition to leading technologies.
"The combination of Datalink and MTI's hardware and software lends itself to a quick, easy sale with high return on investment for the user. Best yet, the versatility of this technology provides for extensive market potential," said Samuel Schrage, VP of sales and marketing at MTI.
Optika (Booth 1209, www.optika.com), which recently announced that Michelin N.A. (Charlotte, NC) has joined the ranks of beta testers, will demonstrate the eMedia product at KMExpo. The Web-based product, which will be generally available in September and shipped to beta sites at the end of July, provides an extranet software suite designed to manage documents and communications supporting business transactions within an organization and the supply chain. eMedia integrates imaging, workflow and COLD technology.
Michelin plans to use eMedia to improve its customer service and enable that department to process billing documents and resolve billing discrepancies more efficiently within Michelin's North American headquarters.
"EMedia will extend integrated document management, imaging, COLD and workflow functionality, helping us to realize our long-term strategy of improved customer service and increased efficiency at lower costs," said Trey Ivey, project manager of document imaging at Michelin N.A.
Plexus (Booth 1615, www.plx.com) recently announced expanded data and information solutions for database applications based on DVD-RAM in conjunction with Informix (www.informix.com) and newly allied company Panasonic Industrial (www.panasonic.com). Plexus' optical interface will support Panasonic's DVD-RAM devices through Informix's Dynamic Server 7.3 for NT. The data storage solution is targeted at large-scale and specialized database applications including imaging and document management.