Fulcrum technology figures prominently in next-generation products - PC Docs' AIIM lineup reflects KM strategy

Tom Bartley, VP of product management at PC Docs (www.pcdocs.com, Booth #2469), clearly envisions document management evolving into knowledge management--and he just as clearly positions PC Docs' new products at the forefront of that evolutionary process. The new offerings will ship toward the end of the second quarter of this year.

Starring in PC Docs' booth at AIIM is CyberDocs 2.5, the latest version of PC Docs' Web-based client. Initially rolled out for NT servers, the latest version of CyberDocs will support both Netscape and Unix servers, and will feature a Java forms conversion utility to enhance ease of customization. Bartley said he is also excited about the new Windows client for the Docs Fusion server-based document management engine. The Windows Fusion client features a Windows Explorer interface, Win95 desktop integration and universal application integration.

Bartley said that "Windows Fusion architecture--ActiveX controls, in a Visual Basic wrapper--will allow multiple clients, soon to include Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes and customized line-of-business applications."

"Up until now," Bartley added, "a groupware or messaging user had to maintain separate open applications to achieve full document management functionality. Now, Notes or Outlook users can 'live in' their preferred interface, and still transparently access the high-powered search and DM capabilities of the Fusion client." An underpinning technology here is the Docs Fusion routing technology that resides at the server level and supports all PC Docs' clients through both serial and parallel routing.

Docs Binder, PC Docs' new compound document model, will also be on display, and gives the PC Docs product line virtual document capability via the emerging XML industry standard. Now in its first (Docs Open) incarnation, Docs Binder's complex, multi-format, XML-based document publishing capabilities will eventually be extended to the Windows Fusion Client.

Bartley said that PC Docs' acquisition of Fulcrum (www.fulcrum.com), and the increasing integration of Fulcrum's technology into the PC Docs mix, have been key enablers of PC Docs' next generation of products. Fulcrum's search and retrieval, mapping and visualization technology, for example, is embedded in both Docs Open and Docs Fusion products, and allows the multi-repository querying characteristic of a fully evolved knowledge management system.

Michael O'Connor Clarke, PC Docs's VP of corporate marketing and communications, said the goal of PC Docs' new collection of products is "to provide the most appropriate user interface, with the document and knowledge management functionality required, to the user's desktop of choice." Furthermore, he said that the PC Docs' value proposition is rapidly approaching a complete KM platform, offering single point of access, low cost of ownership, automated classification and categorization, and extensible and configurable user interfaces for line-of-business solution tailoring.