A Sampling of content management providers

Organizations are being bombarded with information from a plethora of sources both internally and externally generated, from intranets, extranets and the Web, in multiple data types and in formats so varied they boggle the brain: text, HTML, XML, images, e-mail, audio, video. This onslaught has spawned a new phrase, content management, which attempts to bring order and value to the information, and to smooth the path to e-business and e-commerce. Here is just a sampling of some of the “content management” companies that have captured KMWorld’s attention recently.

Accusoft is offering NetVue Content Manager as an optional add-on to its NetVue Web-based document management software. Content Manager features full-text and/or keyword search of documents, background processing, instant OCR of document images and flexibility that supports different document types and many languages. NetVue provides a client-server environment that can deliver large quantities of data in more than 100 formats. Through its core Document Streaming technology, users can view, annodate and update a variety of documents and images without the native applications.

Altris e B is an integrated document management suite that provides users with the tools for DM, imaging, COLD and workflow. It’s designed to facilitate content creation and revision in office applications, e-mail, engineering and computer-aided design drawings. e B is said by Altris to extend document and content management to provide control of content and analysis of the effects of change within the user’s organization.

Broadvision’s One-to-One Publishing application allows users to create content with familiar tools, while supporting the skills a firm already has. The company says the product manages content to accelerate publishing and thereby lower costs, attracting audiences and increasing the user’s competitive advantage. Features include the ability to leverage information assets by reusing content for different media and to provide an environment in which users can publish content interactively in a variety of formats.

Convera, the company formed by the merger of Excalibur Technologies and Intel’s Interactive Media Services, recently released RetrievalWare 6.8 and RetrievalWare WebExpress 2.1, which feature new multimedia content management capabilities and enhancements. Those include enhanced support for Java developers, a new search interface for intranet users, added capabilities for indexing secure content, expanded language plug-ins and support for the latest versions of operating systems and databases. The new products are designed to retrieve high-value content on corporate intranets and the Web. Users can index and search a wide range of distributed information resources, including text files, HTML, documents, relational database tables, more than 200 proprietary document formats and groupware repositories.

Cytura’s Content Manager allows users to create, manage and deploy content using their own Web browser. Content Manager enables the submission of articles, surveys and events, and permits the user to insert links, edit and format the text. It also provides multilingual capabilities to make it accessible to an international audience. Integrated with Cytura Profiler, Content Manager defines certain content to only appear to a certain population.

Documentum’s new 4i B2B Content Management Edition expands on the Documentum 4i eBusiness Platform by providing a common content framework for integrating all collaborative commerce applications. It is said to enhance inter-enterprise content exchange by enabling users within and beyond the firewall to contribute content to a secure repository and collaborate across the Internet. Incoming content triggers automated workflows to speed processing. Other components of the CM Edition enable global collaboration, supply chain integration and B2B application development in such content-rich areas such as contract, catalog and bid management.

Excara’s ContentCenter, geared to manufacturers, provides the functionality needed for hosted and syndicated online catalogs. The Web-based software helps users maintain, manage and syndicate product content. It allows authorized users to access portions of a master catalog to apply changes or updates, while audit tools track who made the changes, when the changes were made, and who approved them. Authorized changes are automatically distributed to buyers and resellers who use the electronic catalog.

Filenet’s Panagon products, including the flagship Panagon eProcess Services, provide the foundation for content and process management applications. The integrated eContent and eProcess platform allows users to extend business processes beyond the corporate firewall to link business processes, business constituents and the content they interactively create via the Web. Panagon Content Services provides document repository software for creating, accessing, managing, securing and updating electronic documents. The centralized document repository aids information sharing and collaboration. The software also includes multiple levels of security and interface options to fit the needs of users.

Hummingbird’s Fulcrum KnowledgeServer provides a single point of access to structured and unstructured data stored in documents, e-mails, Web content, file systems and public folders. Hummingbird says knowledge workers can fuse information repositories with information retrieval and content analysis tools, leveraging the collective knowledge and experience of their organizations to accelerate innovation and sharpen competitive edge. Another Hummingbird product, CyberDOCS, extends the functionality of content management over a corporate intranet, extranet or the Internet, and is customizable.

IBM Content Manager is designed to manage a wide range of digital information. The Content Manager server provides control and security and manages content without user intervention. The product contains a simple graphical interface and can be integrated with familiar business applications. The new Content Manager Version 7.1 expands management by enabling the creation of multiple versions of documents and objects and has a feature that allows system administrators to restrict viewing of sensitive information. In addition to Content Manager, IBM offers several other products to form a core infrastructure for content management; they include the IBM Enterprise Information Portal, WebSphere e-business platform, and MQSeries Workflow.

The iManage infoCommerce product suite consists of solutions for business-to-business and intra-business collaboration management. It is designed for use in organizations’ network-based and Internet-based content management solutions. The software provides Web browser-based interfaces to scalable servers. The product suite includes the infoCommerce Server and the QuickTeam, infoLink, infoRite and infoLook applications.

The InfoImagek Freedom enterprise decision portal enables users to collaborate and make decisions through the delivery of business-critical information. The technology synchronizes content from multiple information sources to deliver relevant content in the context of a process, role, activity or decision point, all in unified workspaces. It also speeds the decision-making process by giving knowledge workers the ability to gather and analyze relevant information, and collaborate with subject matter experts throughout their decision-making network. A recent partnership that combines Freedom and Microsoft’s SharePoint Portal Server is said to result in enterprise decision portals with advanced navigation, document management, search capabilities, collaboration and scalability.

Interwoven TeamSite consists of multiple components to aid content management. TeamSite Front-Office enables content users to create and publish content from a familiar desktop environment. TeamSite WorkflowBuilder provides a graphical user interface for designing complex workflows visually. The software offers users control of Web site development and management. TeamSite’s search feature enables users to locate content for editing, collaboration and deployment. Used with TeamSite, the new TeamCatalog software from Interwoven forms a platform to automate product and Web content processes to power multiple e-business initiatives. It is said to enable customers to assemble and manage catalog content, while ensuring product information is transaction-ready.

IntraNet Solutions recently released Xpedio 4.6, its latest version of the Xpedio Content Management System, the company’s flagship content management product. Xpedio converts business enterprise information into Web formats such as HTML, XML, PDF and WML. It is written in Java and requires no client software beyond a browser. It also includes a security feature that can restrict access to needed information only.

Lionbridge Technologies provides multilingual content management software and services to the technology, telecommunications, life sciences and financial services industries. Its Lionbridge Globalization Platform offers an array of e-business technologies, intended to allow product manufacturers and content publishers to shorten the global sales cycle. The components include LionAccess, LionPath and LionLinguist for connectivity, workflow and language processing respectively. A fourth component, LionView, functions as an information and collaboration portal.

Mobius Management Systems’ recently released e-Search & View and DocumentDirect--two components of its ViewDirect software suite. ViewDirect manages content for use with customer relationship management, electronic bill presentment and payment, and other business-to-business and business-to-consumer applications. View Direct is said to bridge the gap between back-office and front-office systems by capturing, storing and Web-enabling customer documents, such as bills, statements and invoices, as well as reports produced by enterprise resource planning (ERP) and other enterprise applications. e-Search & View is a Web-based search engine finds content inaccessible with other Web searches. DocumentDirect accesses and presents content from a Web browser.

NQL ContentAnywhere allows companies to deploy and transform information residing in any data source, including legacy systems and Web sites, for any information device or popular application where it can be reconfigured to suit the user. The product also enables the user to insert information into documents, contact managers, spreadsheets and presentation programs. ContentAnywhere works in wireless devices (Palm VIIs, smart phones, etc.) and real-time desktop application documents.

Openpages ContentWare enables content to be created in a familiar environment and reused across multiple communications channels. Openpages’ product allows the creation of content in a company’s customary word-processing, graphics, desktop publishing and Web development applications. Once content is created, it can be managed from a single interface and deployed to multiple media.

Pragmatech Software’s Web Publisher lets companies create Web sites for content management and distribution through a non-technical process from within Microsoft Word. With the product, companies can publish sales and marketing information to the Web from centralized knowledgebases.

Venetica’sVeniceBridge enables business-to-business content exchange regardless of the manner or location in which the content is stored. VeniceBridge can access and update documents, images, reports, diagrams and other content, and enable real-time exchange of the information. The product provides a point of integration to content repositories including document management, imaging, Web content management and product data management.

Vignette Content Management Server integrates content management, content delivery and personalization. The product allows non-technical content authors to review, submit and revise content using familiar tools and to manage content from databases, file systems, news feeds and legacy systems. Vignette CMS allows the user to retain control over e-business applications, content and other tasks with a simple interface. The product also provides a full approval history to monitor quality and accountability.