EMC Swings Into Software Big Leagues: Page 2 of 4

Turning itself into a software Leviathan isn’t the only reason EMC has decided to swallow Documentum. The addition of Documentum’s Enterprise Content Management (ECM) platform, which enables companies to manage the entire lifecycle of all types of content, including documents, graphics, and Web pages, will also bring EMC closer to offering true information lifecycle management (ILM) (see Documentum Does Centera).

While everyone in the storage industry seems to be racing to offer ILM -- the ability to automatically move data from one type of storage to another as its value and importance to the company shifts over time -- so far, no one has managed to get hold of all the pieces needed to put the whole puzzle together (see ILM Remains Illusory). For a complete information lifecycle management offering, a company needs a combination of a large range of different products, including storage resource management (SRM), backup and archival software, policy managers, and document management.

According to Punk Ziegel & Co. analyst Steve Berg, the Documentum acquisition will probably bring EMC closer than anyone to actually getting the whole enchilada. “EMC doesn’t have all the pieces yet,” he says. “But it’s probably closest to having all the pieces.”

EMC has already added more SRM capabilities to its mix with its acquisitions of Astrum Software and Prisa Networks, Berg points out, and with Legato, the company will be obtaining a broad range of backup and archival software products. “Certainly, the tough part of ILM is assigning value to your information,” he says. “And that’s what Documentum does.”

EMC’s Lewis insists that the company is very close to achieving its ILM goal. However, he says, this doesn’t mean that the company won’t be making any further acquisitions in the software space. “We feel that we’re in very good shape,” he says. “But the market is dynamic, so I won’t say we’ll close the door.”