ECM (Enterprise Content Management) vendor Open Text this week pocketed European ECM player Ixos. Open Text now claims to be the “world’s largest” ECM provider. I don’t know about that, but they are a well respected competitor in the space beside companies like Documentum, Interwoven, Vignette, and others. Open Text has put forth a strong push in Europe, recently acquiring Gauss, based in Germany. Open Text plans to combine Ixos’ content archiving features with the Open Text collaborative, content and knowledge management platform.This move follows the surprise step earlier this month by storage vendor EMC to shell out $1.7 billion in stock for Documentum. EMC saw the writing on the wall related to the overlapping functions of storage and document retention, particularly as it relates to compliance. That move will certainly send some ripples throughout the industry. Also, it pulls EMC in a closer race with IBM, which has a solid lineup of content, digital media, and document management technologies. Technology Industry