Content management hits the mid-tier

Percussion Software and RedDot Solutions are adding new features and services to their respective ECM (enterprise content management) products designed to make the systems more palatable to midsize companies.

Percussion this week introduced Rhythmyx FastForward, a new feature set for its Rhythmyx 5 ECM offering. FastForward aims to meet the needs of the mid-tier market by speeding implementation and providing more application functionality out of the box, according to Percussion officials.

The first deliverable of the FastForward feature set is FastForward for Web Content Management, which will be available next quarter. Later this year Percussion plans to roll out FastForward for Document Management. All of the FastForward features are designed to let midmarket customers opt for either less customization overall or customization services applied to building a richer set of targeted application capabilities, according to the company. Other requirements targeted are affordable service contracts tied to shorter implementation times, ease of end-user adoption, and industry standards support for easy integration into existing IT environments.

RedDot Solutions, meanwhile, last week unveiled its RedDot XCMS (Extended Content Management Solution), Version 6.0, which features optional Manager Modules that can be tailored to meet the needs of midsize enterprises. Also new is a redesigned user interface providing a central point of access, security enhancements providing broader support for LDAP, and a Web Compliance Manager module for addressing compliance issues.

RedDot XCMS 6.0’s Manager Modules provide Web content management, document management, asset management, collaboration, and business process management. Each module aligns to a functional area, allowing customers to purchase only the modules they need and add more modules as their needs change, according to RedDot officials.

In other CM news, earlier this month hosted CM provider CrownPeak Technology rolled out Advantage ES (Extended Suite), a package of developer tools and customization capabilities designed to let customers tie their own applications to CrownPeak’s hosted service.

“Advantage ES lets external developers have access to our software to customize the software for their business needs,” said Jim Howard, CEO of CrownPeak.

Connections to the CrownPeak application from external applications are achieved using the SOAP Web services standard.

“If you want to call our API from an external API, you do it by a Web service,” Howard said.

Advantage ES consists of a new set of developer tools, an expanded API, configuration tools, and a set of pre-configured customizations for enterprise applications.

“One thing IT organizations have been saying to us is, ‘we love your service but we are afraid of losing control.’ Those days are over,” Howard said. “Now external applications can talk directly into the CrownPeak system. It is the best of both worlds: Our customers get the cost, speed, and reliability benefits of a hosted app, with the flexibility of [an] installed software model.”