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The ECM Report looks at... Open Text's Document Management

"At an enterprise level, Open Text can add value in heterogeneous environments through the use of what it calls "Enterprise Library Services." In some ways this is the core of the LiveLink offering, a platform to manage content wherever it resides. This is very different from the "put everything in my repository" approach to ECM. Instead, Open Text recognizes that content will reside on file servers, databases and any number of third-party repositories. With Enterprise Library Services, Livelink aims to manage the metadata centrally for these disparate resources. Of course, integrating metadata will prove much more complicated than integrating data ..."

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The Search & Information Access Report: This newly updated 341-page Search and Information Access Report critically evaluates 23 Search and Information Access offerings from around the globe... Read more

The Enterprise Collaboration & Community Software Report : This newly updated research critically evaluates 27 Enterprise Collaboration and Community Software products head-to-head... Read more

The Enterprise Content Management Report : This newly updated research critically evaluates 32 Enterprise Content Management products head-to-head... Read more

 

 

Open Text - acquire or be acquired?

04-Jul-2008   --  

Open Text is back on the acquisition trail. The company announced Thursday that they had bought Spicer for $12m. Spicer is a document/file viewing tool vendor that markets "Imagenation," software that competes against the likes of Snowbound.

It's a logical enough addition to the panoply of content applications within the Open Text portfolio, and appears to have been bought at a bargain price. It's not exactly a game changer, but it does resurrect the question of Open Text's own future.

Acquire to grow and compete, or be acquired -- those are the current options. It seems likely that if Open Text itself does not get bought by HP, SAP, or Microsoft in the near future (the most likely bidders), then they will themselves acquire again, probably on a more ambitious basis. Now that they find themselves competing against giants like EMC, Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft it seems the only route to survive. Most likely in their sights is Interwoven, an acquisition that would bring near complete dominance in the Legal and Services sectors, along with some interesting new technologies in the bargain. I'll predict that one of these options -- big acquisition or get acquired -- is highly likely to occur in the next year.

But is Open Text really able to absorb so many counter-cultures and technology stacks? The firm has swallowed up rivals at a pace only Oracle could match -- but Open Text is not Oracle, and they simply do not have the resources to handle this kind of acquisition rate. Indeed many Open Text customers that we have interviewed for the ECM Suites Report regularly complain about disjointed and uneven support, confusing product roadmaps, and long-term concern about the future direction of the company. At the same time it's fair to also report that Open Text customers generally like the company and don't regret choosing them, but goodwill can only go so far.

With this small acquisition, Open Text has put itself back under the spotlight. The industry is again abuzz with rumors -- some of which may be true some of which may not. This remains a very uncertain time for buyers and partners alike.

- Submitted by: Alan Pelz-Sharpe, Analyst - Twitter: cmswatch

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