IBM Snaps Up Aptrix For Web Content Management Talents

Aptrix, formerly known as Presence Online, boasts such customers as Alcatel, British Airways, Deutsche Bank, DB Capital Partners, McDonalds, Safeway, Schering and Telstra, as well as IBM itself, according to the Aptrix Web site. The company also had a long-standing global marketing alliance with IBM, Armonk, N.Y.

IBM is buying up all outstanding shares of Presence Online Pty. Ltd., the formal name of the company now doing business as Aptrix. Terms were not disclosed. With offices in London, Boston and Sydney, Australia, the company will become part of IBM's Lotus Software business unit, based in Cambridge, Mass., IBM said in a statement.

Aptrix's technology will help accelerate Lotus planned "Workplace Content Development" the company said.

The acquisition of the content management company could help Lotus offer more on-demand capabilities, enterprise information integration and web access. In May, Aptrix released its Content Server Domino Edition 4., which provides on demand solutions for SMB and enterprise customers. The private firm, founded in 1996, also offers a version of the Aptrix Content Server that integrates with IBM's Content Manager.

Vignette and Interwoven lead the pack in traditional content management systems, but the explosion of Web content in addition to traditional corporate documents has broadened the field, observers said. Now companies such as IBM, Microsoft and others are entering the fray. IBM's WebSphere line includes a content management offering, soon to be customized for small- and medium-sized businesses. Microsoft is working to combine content management, e-commerce and enterprise application integration into a suite slated to debut in 2005.

With increased federal scrutiny of financial documents and filings, content management players are claiming a mandate for corporate implementations. Content Management servers help companies categorize, store and search documents, and even automate their destruction if need be, observers said.

Paula Rooney contributed to this story.