Documentum moves to Java-based APIs

Content management company Documentum has claimed that a series of updates over the next six months will make it easier for IT managers to deploy and use its products.

The first change is a move to Java-based application programming interfaces so that enterprises will no longer need Documentum's proprietary application server.

"With BEA's Weblogic and IBM's Websphere the world does not need another application server as most of our clients use one or both of those products," said David Gingell, European marketing director at Documentum.

He explained that the Java 2 Enterprise Edition architecture allows companies greater control over customisation, and integrates better with application servers, databases, directories and storage systems.

"It allows us to fit a lot more snugly into the corporate IT infrastructure," said Gingell.

Documentum stated that the new release will offer companies a single content management platform for managing all types of content from different systems across the enterprise.

"We have a single repository that manages all types of content from audio and web to fixed content such as reports and images," explained Gingell.

"A lot of companies have a plethora of document management systems and what we are providing is a single repository. A lot of organisations are standardising on one content management platform."

Other changes to version 5 of the Documentum platform have been made following feedback from the company's 1,600 customers.

Gingell said that there had been a lot of interest in security and authentication to meet imminent regulatory changes, particularly in the pharmaceutical and financial services industries.

Public Key Infrastructure-based encryption of content in the central repository and between the client server will be introduced at the end of the year to increase security and aid digital rights management.

However, analysts have warned that there is still a lot of hype from content management vendors, and that claims of being able to provide a single platform may be exaggerated.

Nikos Drakos, research director at Gartner, said: "It is still premature to hope you will have a single platform. There are a lot of over-ambitious claims.

"Be careful to look beyond the hype. There is still a huge amount of volatility in the market and it is much more likely that you would need several pieces to put your content management strategy in place. Be selective."