As I mentioned in my earlier post on Factiva Search 2.0 it's a crowded field out there for technology players trying to corral enterprise content into the same pen as external content sources. Add in personal content on the desktops of enterprise users and the field gets more crowded yet. EMC is an enterprise systems vendor and integrator that is increasingly capable of taking on IBM and Microsoft with a sophisticated range of infrastructure, document management, content management and digital asset management capabilities. From their Documentum division comes news that EMC is extending its relationship with Google to include its Google Desktop capabilities with their Enterprise Content Integration Suite, a federated search capability that allows EMC users to query content residing in any enterprise repository as well as the Web and, now, individual desktops via Google.

Such integrated capabilities are the true competition for providers such as Factiva, who face not only the need to create meaningful business content integration capabilities using external sources but as well to address the need to integrate internal sources effectively. With licensed content assets still a key portion of the revenue and profit structure of such aggregators they need to display the wares of oftentimes reluctant and uninventive publishers in the best light behind enterprise firewalls when direct access to news via the Web is increasingly prevalent. As capabilities such as Google Desktop integrated with the Google Search Appliance come along to make searching internal, external and personal sources easier from a trusted interface it challenges content aggregators to out-technology more agnostic solutions that can embrace the heavyweight I.T. requirements of many major institutions effectively. Alliances with such providers are key to the long-term success of many integrators, but as Google Desktop and other solutions that reach out to the Web directly make it easier to get access to premium content without the aggregators the battle will be only tougher.