Trend-setting Products of 2005

When we first put together our list of trend-setting products three years ago, the IT landscape was pretty rocky. Seemingly well-conceived software solutions couldn't find markets. Often desperate consolidation prevailed. Budgets were tight for vendors and their customers alike. So, we assembled an informal panel of analysts, consultants, editorial colleagues and users/customers to help identify some 50 companies that appeared to be well positioned to lead the way and a few loosely defined categories. In some cases, despite identifying innovative technology, we misjudged the marketplace.

In 2004, we offered a second list, but dropped the categories because the chosen applications didn't fit into simple molds—the barriers of classification were breaking down. That blurring of lines a year ago is even more evident today.

In a curious sense, the list below indicates that knowledge management has matured. We have long contended that KM is an attitude, not an application, and the flexibility of the software on the list further proves it. You'll notice, of course, common themes in our selections. Content management (in its broadest sense) is well represented. You will certainly see a number of search-related solutions. Business process management is another "category" that crops up regularly, as does collaboration.

The common thread running through all the products listed below is the unique value—and potential value—they offer the organization, its workers and their various constituencies. Not all have been implemented exclusively in business-related environments. Nor were all introduced in 2005; some were launched later last year but are now demonstrating their value to customers. And, in many cases, it is precisely the vision of customers who implemented the products that qualifies them as trend- setting by opening markets not originally considered by the vendor. We have also identified products that have yet to gain traction, but we believe they may. It would be presumptuous to suggest anything other than that the market will ultimately decide.

As was the case last year, we evaluated more than 200 vendors, whose combined offerings top the 1,200 mark. It bears mentioning that these are not the only trend-setting products on the market today, rather they are the ones upon which our panel agreed. And just what were the criteria for selection? As we have in years past, we considered usability, flexibility, adoption rate and total cost of ownership. And we also recognized some vendors for their vision toward the future or for a collection of offerings, rather than a specific product or compelling new version of an existing one.

In each and every case, the thoughtfulness and elegance of the software certainly warrants further investigation, and we're confident there are a number of products listed below that will dramatically boost the productivity of any type of organization.

Trend-setting Products of 2005

Alfresco Alfresco Open Source Content Management System Open source, open-standards content repository with a modular component architecture.

Antarctica Visual Net 5 Designed to interoperate with existing BI tools, bridges the gap between summary dashboards and detailed reporting.

AnyDoc OCR for AnyDoc Extracts information from any type of invoice, form or and document.

Aquire (TimeVision) OrgPublisher Enables creation distribution and maintenance of secure, Web-based enterprise organizational charts.

Arbortext (PTC) Arbortext Enterprise Publishing System XML-based solution that eliminates manual effort and redundant information in order to streamline and automate publishing processes.

Astoria Astoria 4.4 XML content management designed for complex publishing projects.

ATG ATG Commerce A thorough online selling solution for designed for consumers, businesses and channel partners.

Attensity Attensity Workstation Extracts and transforms facts captured in free-form text into structured data.

Autonomy IDOL infrastructure Forms an understanding of the actual content of any type of information--text or voice-based, unstructured or structured--regardless of where it is stored, the format it has been created with or applications associated with the data

AXS-One AXS-One Compliance Platform Integrated solution designed to securely archive and manage virtually all electronic records.

BMC PATROL Facilitates proactive and centralized management of all components of an IT environment.

Bottomline Create!form Transactional document output formatting and delivery.

Business Objects BusinessObjects XI Complete, service-oriented business intelligence platform for large enterprises.

Captaris Alchemy 8 A fixed content management suite that provides a fully integrated solution at the intersection of document management, records management and information lifecycle management.

Captiva eInput Front-end distributed capture system that enables users to capture and submit scanned document images, pictures or electronic files from remote locations.

Clearstory Radiant Enterprise Media Server A flexible J2EE platform for managing enterprise rich-media content.

Coemergence ACIS Captures information and knowledge held within an organization's people and weaves it together with other internal and external information sources.

Content Analyst Latent Semantic Indexing A machine-learning solution that enables technology to identify, represent and compare concepts existing within a collection of documents or data.

Contextware Contextware KM Knowledge management offering that relies on business process language to extract multidimensional view of the organization and its employees.

Cuadra Cuadra STAR Customizable information management system for applications where the proper handling of descriptive or full text and fast, precise retrieval are especially important.

Cyntergy Technologies Thumbprint CPM A robust collaborative program management application.

DST Automated Work Distributor Combines business process management with imaging, workflow and customer management.

eGain eService Software Complete suite of customer service and contact center software.

Ektron CMS400.NET XML content management solution built on the Microsoft .NET framework.

EMC Documentum eRoom 7 Highly flexible collaborative environment.

Endeca ProFindTM for Enterprise Search Guided navigation for intranets, portals, corporate Web sites, information-based sites, call centers and commerce and catalog sites.

Engenium Engenium Semetric Search technology that accurately retrieves contextually related information.

Entopia K-Bus 3 Comprehensive infrastructure that captures the essence of enterprise content from both structured and unstructured information sources.

Exact Software e-Synergy Web-based collaboration platform.

Exsys Exsys Corvid --A flexible knowledge automation, expert system development tool that facilitates decision-making for all enterprise constituents.

Extensis Portfolio Server Robust digital asset management with workflow capabilities.

FAST Search and Transfer Enterprise Search Platform (FAST ESP) A complete and highly powerful platform that serves as the foundation for wide variety of search applications

FileNet Active Storage and Retrieval (ASAR) Permits integration between the FileNet P8 ECM platform and leading storage vendors' technologies including EMC, HP, Hitachi Data Systems, IBM, Network Appliance, Plasmon and Sun.

First Consulting Group FirstDoc A suite of tools, technologies and consulting services for science organizations.

Global 360 G360 Enterprise BPM Suite Combines analytics with a business process management platform.

Google Google Search Appliance Indexes all forms of content on intranets and Web sites.

Hummingbird Hummingbird Enterprise™ Allows organizations to unlock the value of business content and provides the foundation for building process-centric enterprise content management solutions.

Hyland OnBase Enterprise content management software that combines integrated document management, business process management and records management in a single application.

Hyperwave eQuality Management An offering that facilitates developing a companywide quality management system.

IBM WebSphere Information Integrator Provides integrated access to business information -- structured and unstructured, public and private, mainframe and distributed.

Imaginatik Idea Central V6 Web-based, idea management application designed to help organizations maximize the benefits from the creativity, expertise and knowledge of employees, customers, suppliers and other third parties.

Innodata Isogen Innodata Isogen Enterprise Tools to optimize the content supply chain.

InQuira InQuira 7 A set of products that deliver personalized Web site experiences, and/or personalized responses for contact center agent.

Insightful InFact 3.0 Natural language-based search and text analysis

Instranet Contact Centers In-Line Multi-channel knowledge application for automated delivery of profile-based sustainable content and knowledge.

Intellext Watson 2.0 Proactive search tool that reads into the context of what a computer user is doing.

Intelligenxia IxReveal Analyzes and mines high volumes of unstructured data in combination with its structured data to discover hidden relationships and exceptions.

Intellisophic Taxonomy Library A wide array of machine-developed, easily deployed taxonomies.

Interwoven WorkSite Server (.NET Platform) A collaborative document management platform that was built from ground up using Microsoft technologies.

Inxight Inxight SmartDiscovery Analysis Server Automatically extracts metadata from documents and combines it with familiar search interfaces and intuitive navigation options.

ISYS ISYS:desktop 7 A comprehensive search tool designed to find information on the desktop as well as across corporate networks or work groups.

KANA KANA Response A full solution for managing enterprise volumes of inbound e-mail and Web-form inquiries designed to increase contact center productivity, reduce response times and improve response consistency.

Knova (Serviceware/Kanisa) Knova 6.5 A suite of applications built on a search and KM platform that automates the resolution process across multiple channels.

KnowNow KnowNow 3 Enterprise Syndication Solution (ESS) A scalable enterprise RSS aggregator.

Kofax VirtualReScan Instantly checks and adjusts scanned images for alignment, brightness, contrast and image clarity.

Liberty IMS LibertyNET Document management, workflow, records management, document imaging, process automation, digital asset management, COLD/ERM, e-forms e-mail management and collaboration.

Mark Logic Mark Logic Server 3.0 XML content server with automatic conversion of Microsoft Office, PDF, and HTML documents to XML; a Web services-enabled content processing framework; and full text and XML search functionality.

MDY Inc MDY FileSurf Records Management Solution Integrates all physical and electronic into a single enterprisewide system, and manages the files according to government regulations and organizational policies.

Mercado CSN 2 Commerce search and navigation with powerful browsing and merchandising capabilities.

Metastorm Roundtrip Business Process Management Streamlines processes and human collaboration by creating a single process layer across multiple systems, databases and people.

Mobius ViewDirect Records Management Compliant to the DoD 5015.2 electronic records management standard and leverages existing investments through integration with line-of-business applications.

New Idea Eng. SearchTrack Server application that works in conjunction with an existing enterprise search engine to provide search analytics.

NextPage Nextpage 1.5 A subscription software service that securely tracks document versions stored on desktops, as e-mail attachments and on servers.

Novell Novell GroupWise Collaboration software with e-mail, calendaring, instant messaging, task management, document management and data storage functions.

Nstein e-Publisher Suite Intelligent computer-aided indexing software.

OneSource Information Services, Inc. synergy solutions Business information family of products and services designed to put content in context.

Open Text Livelink for Communities of Practice Facilitates collaboration between cross-functional employees and ensures that best practices are identified and applied.

PaperThin CommonSpot 4.5 Web content management with expanded authoring capabilities, content import and syndication tools; taxonomy-based data classification.

Pegasystems Smart BPM Suite Unifies Decisions and policies with operations and systems in real time.

Percussion Rhythmyx 5.6 Provides support for multiple Web properties with a strong emphasis on reusing content and building engaging Web sites.

ProClarity ProClarity Analytics Family OLAP front-end tool for Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services.

Quindi Quindi Meeting Companion Desktop application that captures audio, video, notes and data, including PowerPoint slides, screenshots and whiteboards.

Recommind MindServer Legal Enterprise Search Indexes text from multiple sources, then generates concept models that identify relationships between words and concepts.

RightNow RightNow Analytics Offers a single version of CRM information by pulling information from one central data source.

SAS Forecast Server Improves the accuracy of forecasts and the manageability of the forecast process.

ScanSoft OmniPage Capture SDK Allows developers to quickly add imaging, recognition and PDF capabilities to commercial and in-house software applications

SER globalBrain A discovery and delivery application that responds to natural language queries.

Serena Serena TeamTrack Web-architected, secure and configurable process and issue management system.

Siderean Seamark Navigation Server Integrates with current enterprise search, content repositories, document management and Web systems to provide a unified view of information.

Sitescape Forum 7.2 Sophisticated collaboration solution available through any device that runs a Web browser

Smead Smeadlink Express Combines document management and records management to manage the complete document life cycle.

Stellent Universal Content Management 7.5 Latest version includes an in-context metadata engine, enhanced e-mail management and new digital asset management.

SumTotal Systems SumTotal Enterprise Suite Combines a learning management system, virtual classroom service and a dashboard on a single, integrated platform.

SupportSoft RTSM Software Platform Real-Time Service Management links end points, users, and service professionals in context and in real time.

Talisma Knowledgebase 5.0 (knowledgebase.net) Stand-alone knowledgebase for Web self-service and customer support as part of Talisma offering.

Teragram Teragram Search Accuracy Enhancers Permits richer processing at the level of words, linguistic relations and word meanings.

Thomson Elite West km A complete knowledge management solution for the legal industry.

TOWER Software TRIM Context An integrated platform that manages business information through its complete life cycle.

Traction Software TeamPage 3.6 Enterprise Weblog software.

Transware/Global Sight Global Sight Globalization and localization solutions.

Ultimus Ultimus BPM Suite Allows automated business processes to be deployed without completely defined process maps.

Verity Verity Collaborative Classifier Taxonomy and classification software that enables subject matter experts and knowledge engineers to collaborate in real time to organize intellectual capital abound business roles and requirements.

Vignette Vignette V7 Suite of integrated applications and Web services that enables organizations to create and manage information, business processes, portals and applications.

Vivisimo Content Integrator Federated search through diverse information sources.

WebSideStory Search and Content Solutions (formerly Atomz) WebSideStory Search Integrates search, promotion, e-marketing and content management capabilities for retailers.

Xerox DocuShare A comprehensive Web-based document and content management application for businesses of all sizes.

Yaletown Technology Group CONSPECT Solution for Content Compliance Unifies responsive policy, content and process management best practices and applies them to e-mail, instant messaging and document activity.

YourAmigo Spider Linker Makes make all content on a Web site available to search engines.

ZyLAB ZyIMAGE Enable small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and government organizations to digitally file and manage huge volumes of paper documents.