IBM (NYSE:IBM) today announced new enterprise content management (ECM) software designed to enable clients to manage their increasing volumes of information and reduce their business processing time by 50 percent, helping reduce cost and increase efficiency.
The new software includes a comprehensive business process management offering with analytic capabilities, new features in IBM's content management product line and full-featured ECM starter packs specifically designed for clients looking for smaller deployments, to cost-effectively meet their enterprise content management needs.
With the new offerings, clients can become more efficient in the way they manage their business processes and have quick and easy access to information when they need it. For example, insurance companies deal with growing volumes of information such as claims forms and insurance policies, which need to be processed in a timely and effective manner. If clients are hit by a natural disaster such as a hurricane, it is imperative that their insurance companies respond quickly. By automating the manually intensive business processes that are also prone to errors, such as underwriting, claims processing and policy issuance, insurance companies can now realize decreased processing times of nearly 50 percent. This can help them improve efficiency and client satisfaction by meeting client needs promptly.
Similarly, it is crucial that hospital personnel have the right information, at the right time. Relying on manual processes for patient information can be costly and labor-intensive. By streamlining business processes, hospital personnel can have instant access to pertinent information to respond more quickly to patient requirements, reducing costs and delivering improved healthcare.
"Our software offerings are designed to make it easier for clients to get the most out of their content management investments," said Ken Bisconti, vice president, products and strategy, IBM Enterprise Content Management. "By bundling a complete set of content-centric business process management tools into one offering, IBM has significantly improved the delivery of ECM capabilities. This allows clients to simplify integration, streamline their business processes and lower costs."
IBM ECM Software Portfolio Enhancements
New ECM capabilities make it easier for organizations to support a broader set of users, while reducing the total cost of ownership of their ECM infrastructures:
- Consolidating five products into one offering, IBM's new content-centric business process management (BPM) bundle provides clients with more functionality, improved ease of use, and simplifies the way they obtain BPM capabilities by offering a comprehensive, all-inclusive product for content-centric BPM. Included in the IBM FileNet Business Process Manager bundle are IBM FileNet Process Monitor, IBM FileNet Business Process Framework, IBM FileNet Connector for Microsoft Visio, and IBM FileNet eForms. Addressing business activity monitoring capabilities, the offering also includes IBM Cognos Now!, which is designed to provide clients with real-time monitoring and visibility into business operations.
- IBM FileNet Business Process Manager utilizes Web 2.0 technologies such as enterprise mashups from IBM, along with a set of standards-based widgets. These ECM-based widgets are visual services that provide useful ECM and BPM functions. Assembling widgets and mashing data together provides organizations with more adaptable options for ECM applications, reducing development time and increasing business agility.
- IBM Content Manager and IBM FileNet Content Manager are secure and open content repositories designed to provide content services such as security, search, integration, and workflow. New improvements in IBM Content Manager include enhanced document handling capabilities; consumability and performance enhancements; process automation, execution, and management via BPM integration; full-text search (z/OS), and high volume batch loading capability (z/OS). Enhancements to IBM FileNet Content Manager include significant improvements in installation and upgrade processes, reducing the cost of deploying enterprise class content capabilities.
New versions of IBM Content Manager and IBM FileNet Content Manager will also include a technical preview of the Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS) standard. CMIS is a proposed Web services standard that allows clients to leverage third-party applications, user interfaces and tools with IBM repositories without custom development. This makes it easier for users to gain access to the right information - at the right time - from their applications. CMIS was submitted to OASIS in September 2008 and is currently in standards ratification.
In addition, IBM's ECM portfolio now includes ECM starter packs. The ECM starter packs are four, full-featured ECM packages targeted for smaller or departmental deployments. They allow clients to purchase just the right number of licenses to meet their current needs, helping them realize a more significant return on investment and enabling them to scale to a full enterprise deployment at any time.
The starter packs include: IBM Content Manager, IBM FileNet Content Manager, IBM FileNet Business Process Manager, and IBM Content Collector Discovery Analytics. For more information, visit: http://www-01.ibm.com/...
IBM ECM software addresses the demands of globally distributed enterprises that require extensible technologies and supports the company's Smarter Planet initiative, which recognizes the need for improved information access, quality and insight.
For more information on IBM Enterprise Content Management software, visit: http://www-01.ibm.com/...
The new software includes a comprehensive business process management offering with analytic capabilities, new features in IBM's content management product line and full-featured ECM starter packs specifically designed for clients looking for smaller deployments, to cost-effectively meet their enterprise content management needs.
With the new offerings, clients can become more efficient in the way they manage their business processes and have quick and easy access to information when they need it. For example, insurance companies deal with growing volumes of information such as claims forms and insurance policies, which need to be processed in a timely and effective manner. If clients are hit by a natural disaster such as a hurricane, it is imperative that their insurance companies respond quickly. By automating the manually intensive business processes that are also prone to errors, such as underwriting, claims processing and policy issuance, insurance companies can now realize decreased processing times of nearly 50 percent. This can help them improve efficiency and client satisfaction by meeting client needs promptly.
Similarly, it is crucial that hospital personnel have the right information, at the right time. Relying on manual processes for patient information can be costly and labor-intensive. By streamlining business processes, hospital personnel can have instant access to pertinent information to respond more quickly to patient requirements, reducing costs and delivering improved healthcare.
"Our software offerings are designed to make it easier for clients to get the most out of their content management investments," said Ken Bisconti, vice president, products and strategy, IBM Enterprise Content Management. "By bundling a complete set of content-centric business process management tools into one offering, IBM has significantly improved the delivery of ECM capabilities. This allows clients to simplify integration, streamline their business processes and lower costs."
IBM ECM Software Portfolio Enhancements
New ECM capabilities make it easier for organizations to support a broader set of users, while reducing the total cost of ownership of their ECM infrastructures:
- Consolidating five products into one offering, IBM's new content-centric business process management (BPM) bundle provides clients with more functionality, improved ease of use, and simplifies the way they obtain BPM capabilities by offering a comprehensive, all-inclusive product for content-centric BPM. Included in the IBM FileNet Business Process Manager bundle are IBM FileNet Process Monitor, IBM FileNet Business Process Framework, IBM FileNet Connector for Microsoft Visio, and IBM FileNet eForms. Addressing business activity monitoring capabilities, the offering also includes IBM Cognos Now!, which is designed to provide clients with real-time monitoring and visibility into business operations.
- IBM FileNet Business Process Manager utilizes Web 2.0 technologies such as enterprise mashups from IBM, along with a set of standards-based widgets. These ECM-based widgets are visual services that provide useful ECM and BPM functions. Assembling widgets and mashing data together provides organizations with more adaptable options for ECM applications, reducing development time and increasing business agility.
- IBM Content Manager and IBM FileNet Content Manager are secure and open content repositories designed to provide content services such as security, search, integration, and workflow. New improvements in IBM Content Manager include enhanced document handling capabilities; consumability and performance enhancements; process automation, execution, and management via BPM integration; full-text search (z/OS), and high volume batch loading capability (z/OS). Enhancements to IBM FileNet Content Manager include significant improvements in installation and upgrade processes, reducing the cost of deploying enterprise class content capabilities.
New versions of IBM Content Manager and IBM FileNet Content Manager will also include a technical preview of the Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS) standard. CMIS is a proposed Web services standard that allows clients to leverage third-party applications, user interfaces and tools with IBM repositories without custom development. This makes it easier for users to gain access to the right information - at the right time - from their applications. CMIS was submitted to OASIS in September 2008 and is currently in standards ratification.
In addition, IBM's ECM portfolio now includes ECM starter packs. The ECM starter packs are four, full-featured ECM packages targeted for smaller or departmental deployments. They allow clients to purchase just the right number of licenses to meet their current needs, helping them realize a more significant return on investment and enabling them to scale to a full enterprise deployment at any time.
The starter packs include: IBM Content Manager, IBM FileNet Content Manager, IBM FileNet Business Process Manager, and IBM Content Collector Discovery Analytics. For more information, visit: http://www-01.ibm.com/...
IBM ECM software addresses the demands of globally distributed enterprises that require extensible technologies and supports the company's Smarter Planet initiative, which recognizes the need for improved information access, quality and insight.
For more information on IBM Enterprise Content Management software, visit: http://www-01.ibm.com/...
