OpenText Picks Up IXOS as Content Management Continues Consolidation
As noted at Internetnews.com and other outlets, OpenText's purchase of the German ECM firm IXOS takes some pressure off of the content collaboration company's market positioning as a less-than-complete publishing and management solution for content. In general, though, this is a continuation of a trend in which partial managment of the entire content lifecycle via technology is just not cutting it in the marketplace. The productivity benefits for content creators and publishers fall increasingly on the top and bottom ends of the publishing spectrum: on the top, the ability for individuals to communicate effectively via content to highly targeted audiences, and at the bottom, persistent storage and retrieval options that are independent of specific delivery platforms. CMS publishing systems between these top and bottom layers are important, but only one of a wide variety of content sources that need to be integrated for most institutions. In essence, CMS as a standalone concept is falling victim to the same forces of disintermediation that are engulfing the world of professional publishers. OpenText's move is a solid one from a technology sales perspective, but challenges still remain ahead for them and other technology companies as they try to add value to content that's increasingly in the hands of its creators to manage and distribute.