Top Technology Companies
Ten high-impact companies that made a difference
Documentum 
"Clearly established as the dominant player in document management, and broke out
of the narrow pharmaceuticals market into a broad array of verticals. In Geoffrey Moore's
terms, they're really scattering the bowling pins now! While Documentum's competitors have
learned to fear and admire the company, none is adopting its vertical 'whole product'
approach that has been so successful."--B.S.
"Continued growth, ability to seek out and sell to the 'high-value' compound
document management pain points, and focused management."--D.Y.
"Documentum is breaking into space that many haven't even recognized as being
linked to the knowledge life cycle. Unsatisfied to simply do 50 user pilots, they are
providing solid business solutions that clients can sink their teeth into. The result:
global and enterprise deals where DM is driving the boat, not image capture."--R.E.
"Client-server groupware killer"--IDC
"Climbed onto the radar screens of the document management world, and continues to
lead the way in defining what document management means in an enterprisewide intranet
environment ... emphasis seems to be increasingly on providing ad hoc project team
support, as opposed to a corporate records vault or a tool for business-critical
applications."--B.S.
"For breaking sales/implementation size barriers in 'collaborative knowledge
management.' Notable also for the 180-degree turn the company took post numerous
acquisitions as well as its (more or less) head-on attack of Domino et al."--D.Y.
Adobe and Cornerstone
"Adobe and Cornerstone have begun to have real impact in high-volume, paper-to-Web
implementations, many in conjunction with Documentum. PDF has now firmly taken root as the
de facto standard format for Web distribution of not only richly formatted electronic
documents, but multipage images as well."--B.S.
"Acrobat Capture had a great impact on 1997."--D.Y.
Lotus and Microsoft
"While their impact was subtle, in a few years we'll look back at 1997 as the year
Lotus and Microsoft began to redefine knowledge management at the enterprise level. Both
companies introduced infrastructures for document and workflow-enabled solutions that can
be deployed globally in both thick- and thin-client environments, support offline work,
and embrace corporate E-mail as a vital source of document 'knowledge.' As crude as their
Release 1.0 implementations may have been, Domino.Doc and Outlook 97 (with Exchange 5.5)
will likely prove to be the beginning of the end for many of today's vendors."--B.S.
Oracle
"Riding the wave of NT Server installs, which tripled from '95 to '96 to $454
million (Dataquest, 9/97), Oracle 8 has surpassed Microsoft SQL Server in NT database
market share. The majority of large corporations, Oracle's historic customer base, are
adopting intranets to share knowledge across the enterprise. Oracle is riding this
confluence of NT Server and intranet adoption to establish a leadership position in
corporate environments."--T.M.
FileNet
"The image-enablement of SAP has been a major driver of business for Ixos and
FileNet. The image management subsystem is entirely hidden from users. Large users are
getting very capable, distributed systems for much less of an investment than traditional
imaging systems. On the other hand, they had to pay for SAP to get there."--M.A.
"Ted Smith made the best decision of the year ... hire Lee Roberts."--IDC
"The impending release of Mendocino/Panama."--D.Y.
Staffware
"Dramatically increased sales in the wake of companies focusing more on process
and appropriate architectural underpinnings to manage process."--D.Y.
Optika
"No longer a second-tier player, Mark Ruport (CEO) has led them into a new era.
Optika has developed a cracker jack professional services group to focus on major
accounts. The group, led by Young Turks like Eric Meerschaert and Steve
Maegdlin, has
brought an element to Optika for program execution unlike any I've seen. They're bright,
responsive, client-centric and have vision. Their mantra is crisp and they live it!
Obviously, a reflection of their leadership."--R.E. *
Ones To Watch
FileNet
"The new Mendocino client blazes a new trail for the convergence of imaging and
document management by providing a single view point and RAD programming environment for
IMS and Mezzanine, deployable on both thick clients and simple Web browsers."--B.S.
"Although they were slow out of the gate to adapt to the Web while digesting the
acquisitions of 1996 and 1997, they are poised for growth in 1998. With new blood (Lee
Roberts) and realizing the Web's impact, FileNet appears to have regained its
focus."--S.G.
"Who has spoken with Lee Roberts and does not think that FileNet will be
successful in '98 and beyond?"--D.Y.
Eastman Software
"An exciting suite of products based on Microsoft Exchange that promises to turn
all that enterprise plumbing into a rich environment for work management and document
management. While most vendors have sought to emulate Open Text's Web-centric approach to
large-scale deployment, Eastman hopes to ride the Microsoft tiger and leverage the unique
advantages of enterprise messaging as an application platform."--B.S.
"With a new line of products to be introduced in the first quarter and a close
relationship with Microsoft, Eastman is leveraging the technology acquired from Wang, and
combining it with Kodak's expertise and good name, to become a leading player in knowledge
management."--S.G.
"WFX (WorkFolder for Microsoft Exchange) has impressive capabilities, especially
with respect to event triggers."--T.D.
Plexus Software
"Plexus' Java Business Objects will put this workflow and imaging pioneer back in
the limelight as the first vendor to provide high-volume workflow and imaging through the
Web. Using Java Beans for rapid application development, Plexus will allow full
participation in production workflow applications."--B.S.
Ikon
"A $5 billion Goliath that has been gobbling up systems integrators, document
imaging resellers and service bureaus over the last two years. Ikon is already a major
force in the digital copier business and is now pushing toward the document management
world. With major acquisitions of Wesco and various imaging resellers, Ikon is laying the
foundation for capturing, maintaining and distributing the digital document."--S.G.
PC Docs
"With the release of CyberDocs 2.0, PC Docs provides an unobtrusive way to capture
the knowledge created by individual users every day. PC Docs could be an attractive
acquisition for some larger force or it will be the aggressor in gobbling up some
complementary technologies (such as a full-text retrieval vendor, as rumored)."--S.G.
Optika
"Always ahead of the pack in the evolution of imaging/workflow/COLD
vendors."--IDC
"Its new product launch for '98, code named IDS, is a solid architecture with a
very well-designed, intuitive, seamless user interface. Its migration plan for existing
users of the FilePower product is very smart and should make any current or future Optika
user smile."--R.E.
Excalibur
"Long recognized as the leader in intelligent information retrieval with its
semantic and adaptive pattern recognition processing technologies, Excalibur's
RetrievalWare will gain wider recognition of its unmatched capabilities outside of the
traditional text retrieval market. RetrievalWare could become the cornerstone technology
of the knowledge management market."--S.G.
"One of the biggest side effects of the growth of the Web is that there are now
millions of experienced search users. Because the results of searching the vastness of the
Web are often disappointing, an entirely new class of second-generation information
retrieval users is rapidly emerging. These users demand greater efficiency. As KM gains
acceptance, the advanced IR capabilities of Excalibur will rise in value and
adoption."--T.M.
Keyfile
"Moving into the production imaging quadrant--they have had some overseas
successes."--T.D.
Microsoft
"Its two products--Hydra and NT 5.0--slated for introduction in 1998 will ease the
cost and headaches of rolling out complex applications such as document management across
departments. Hydra will allow most Windows-based applications to be run centrally on the
server without the need for high-powered PCs to run the client software in small- to
medium-size environments. And Exchange will continue to be the premier backbone for many
collaboration and workflow products in 1998."--S.G.
Adobe
"With the 20-millionth copy of Acrobat distributed in August '97, Adobe Acrobat
achieved critical user mass comparable to the installed base of Lotus Notes. Watch Adobe
to roll out products to serve the enterprise. In the rush to intranets and knowledge
management, the concept of an 'enterprise document' makes a lot of sense. Adobe Acrobat is
positioned to dramatically increase its presence in corporate applications far beyond its
current implementations in document management and publishing systems. Already, at
Internet World on Dec. 10, Adobe announced advanced electronic forms features and dynamic
database publishing in Acrobat PDF. With Dynamic HTML not even due to arrive until late
'98--if then--look for Adobe to expand its already unassailable claim as the de facto rich
electronic document format."--T.M.
IMC
"Information Management Consultants (McLean, VA), one of the premier systems
integrators in the industry, is a collection of world-class strategists, thinkers and
computer scientists. A key to the success of IMC is clearly the
leadership--Sudhakar
Shenoy has built a solid dynasty within the EDM, workflow and Net strategies world. It is
an impressive and honorable organization that clearly puts the best interest of the client
first."--R.E.
Molloy Group
"Innovative knowledge management technology and KM-based line of business
solutions."--IDC
Oracle
"Building on the success they achieved last year, look for Oracle to be even more
aggressive. Already the Oracle Web Developer Suite, with a VAR price of $1,995, is giving
Microsoft Windows NT a run for the money as the dominant platform for corporate intranet
implementations. With Larry Ellison hawking the new Network Computers on TV during
football games, Oracle may dramatically change the field of computers in 1998."--T.M.
Action
"Action won first place in the Structured Workflow category in Microsoft's
Industry Solutions Awards at KM Expo in Chicago. It has product knowledge, the ability to
see the linkage between process and people and can translate it into a work management
system."--R.E.
Open Text
"The difference between Web-centered applications like Open Text's Livelink
Intranet and other 'Web-enabled' applications is becoming ever more apparent as
corporations begin to deploy intranet applications. In 1997, it seemed the entire market
was morphing into one new application, let's call it KM, that subsumed all the earlier
products called document management, workflow, information retrieval and collaboration.
Open Text will continue to benefit from having been there first, and should see increasing
success as buyers come to accept this universal view of business applications."--T.M.
Grapevine
"Collaborative filtering and strategic relationships are driving the company to
new heights in the evolution to KM."
--IDC
Bluebird Systems
"I'm watching Bluebird's ODOC, another interesting product."--T.D.
Staffware
"I remain a fan of Staffware for production workflow."--T.D.
Folio
"Their roots are in the publishing business, where knowledge management is
cornerstone to research and material compilation. They've taken their evolved offering and
applied it to other industries. Unique to their product is how they manage data in
infobases to get information that much closer to being knowledge. Married with their Open
Market parent, you can easily see where it is going: Build the knowledge repositories to
further the corporate mission, then provide public access to saliant pieces of the
repository on a for-fee basis using Open Market's Net-based EC interface. These guys could
bring KM full circle to work process management."--R.E.
StorageTek
"For making petabyte (1,000 TB) storage really cheap, relatively quick and
available to KM applications. They have ported to NT and they integrate with Docs,
Documentum, FileNet and others via OTG. This'll make massive KM storage requirements and
data warehousing feasible."--J.F.
Hewlett-Packard
"Changengine technology pulling ahead of the pack."--D.Y.
World Wide Technologies
"Growing from nothing to a $100 million company in six years speaks highly of the
leadership team of Dave Steward and Jim Kavanaugh. Steward has received quite a lot of
press for being one of the hottest and fastest growing U.S. companies in the late 1990s.
Every WWT employee's paycheck reads: 'This paycheck was brought to you by a satisfied
customer!' World Wide is building the solution provider model of the future. Aligned with
major players like Sun, Oracle, Novell, FileNet, Kodak and several others, they have built
a distribution model that supports both solutions delivery and hardware
fulfillment."--R.E.
Cardiff Software
"Appears to be well on the way to being the first forms processing software
company to establish real value for its brand name. Technically, 1997 was also a key year
for the industry because vendors began to redefine it to include collection and processing
of electronic information using EDI, E-mail and the Internet. Cardiff certainly led the
way; by the end of 1998 most major players will have new functionality to collect data
electronically."--D.W.
Word-Tech Business Systems
"Kansas City, MO's, WordTech is getting coverage all over the press and here in
the Kansas City market it's winning a lot of deals. Bruce Karlson and his team have earned
the recognition (they were Optika's VAR of the Year last year) they deserve and are worthy
of further observation in '98. Customers rave about WordTech's commitment and
support."--R.E.
Agile Software
"Built a methodology to address rapid deployment without sacrificing a method to
ensure success. Scalable, robust and comprehensive immediately come to mind. And best of
all they don't require a million-dollar ante to start playing the EDM/PDM
game."--R.E.
An advisory board of independent industry analysts and consultants helped KMWorld
choose the Top Technology Companies and the Ones to Watch. Their comments appear on the
preceding pages. Check them out, too, at our Web site.
