EMC has announced tighter integration between its Documentum content management suite and xPression, which EMC acquired when it bought communications specialist Document Sciences.

XPression allows customers to generate personalised communications using Documentum as the electronic data source.

The new integration with Documentum includes repository, business process management and archive capabilities, EMC said at its Momentum 08 event in Prague, which attracted nearly 15,000 customers and partners.

Whitney Tidmarsh, EMC world marketing vice president, suggested that the added integration will benefit customer communications management strategies, which have become increasingly important in the current recession.

"An economic downturn is not for building new customers but to ensure you can support your existing customers and that they are happy," she said.

The developments announced today include integration with Document TaskSpace that will allow xPression documents to be automated in business processes such as insurance claims or customer correspondence, according to Doug Winter, EMC Document Sciences vice president.

XPression can also be integrated seamlessly with localised versions of authoring tools such as Microsoft Word, Adobe InDesign and Adobe Dreamweaver.

The suite will also contain support for French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian and Brazilian.