Documentum Expands Hosted Offering, Adds Partner Perks

ERoom.net and its channel program aim to let reseller or integrator partners co-brand the offering with Documentum, said Linea Rowe, director of hosted e-Room operations at the Pleasanton, Calif.-based company.

The goal is to open up distribution for the collaboration software. To date, eRoom has been sold via a direct-sales force, and there are "some self-service customers who hear about us and come to our Web site and sign up," Rowe said. Now the company wants to recruit VARs, initially in targeted markets, to sell the service in return for an ongoing revenue stream, Rowe said.

The infrastructure is based on the recently upgraded eRoom 7 technology. "We have updated the core eRoom engine and re-priced it to make it more attractive to small- and midsize companies, " Rowe told CRN.

Price for 100 users per month is now $2,000 for any number of shared workplaces. Additional users then cost $24 each. Discounts are available for companies buying in volume and for longer periods.

In the old model, users were charged per eRoom. "If you had 50 users, each individual eRoom would have been $725 or $1,450 for two. The new model offers 50 users unlimited eRooms for $1,499.

The new idea is to propagate eRoom usage in existing accounts as well as to penetrate new accounts. The software also offers better support for project management. A new Project Plan tool lets customers present a series of milestones in Gantt chart form with contingencies and other factors, Rowe said.

Mike Pachler, CTO of e-IDC, a reseller specializing in the architecture, engineering, and construction market is bullish. The Annapolis, Md.-based company uses the eRoom server software internally and also resells the service. "Their new partner program definitely allows us more flexibility to our clients. It's more focused on branding. We can do communities and have unlimited eRooms, it's better for our clients who can create multiple rooms without getting hit up each time," he said.

In that field, where sometimes dispersed architects, contractors, designers and customers need to collaborate securely, eRoom is a good fit, he noted. "We're doing a project in [Washington] D.C. for the GSA Federal Office Building Number 8. It's a 500,000-square-foot office renovation, and there are typically 60 to 70 key players" who need to be up to date on the work, he said.

With this release of eRoom.net, hosting is being moved to EMC's Global Solutions group. ERoom had partnered with US Internetworking. EMC bought eRoom parent Documentum last year. (Documentum had purchased the independent Cambridge, Mass.-based eRoom Technology about four years ago.)

ERoom which has won good reviews from large customers including Ford Motor faces competition from IBM/Lotus QuickPlace and even Microsoft's SharePoint Portal Server.