InfoPrint: Complemented or Challenged
November 23, 2008
When I mention the IBM Richoh tie up that is available as InfoPrint, most of my confidantes don’t know what the heck the company is. You can learn more about InfoPrint here. When I read the story “Xerox Partners with IBM for Global Imaging and Document Management Services”, several questions flashed through my mind.
- What has happened to Xerox’s own enterprise publishing system initiative? You can read more about this Xerox business here. My hunch is that Xerox can’t make its enterprise publishing initiative generate significant revenues, so the company has partnered with the “other” consulting firm, IBM.
- Why is IBM teaming with Xerox and not putting its energies into the InfoPrint operation? My hunch is that enterprise publishing is showing some promise, and the more horses IBM has in the race the bettr it is for IBM.
- What will other vendors do; specifically, Hewlett Packard? My thought is that there will be stepped up competition for solid partnering like the HP Exalead deal and more interest in “on the edge” enterprise publishing system vendors. (No, I won’t name these “on the edge” players because some of that detail will appear in my forthcoming Google and Publishing monograph.)
After thinking these thoughts, I went back to the story “Xerox Partners with IBM for Global Imaging and Document Management Services” and noted a comment that had some significance for my work:
IBM will leverage Xerox’s global document management services to give clients digital access to information currently stored in paper-based documents.
The “access” word triggered thoughts of search, business intelligence, and reports that answer users’ questions. To me this means more opportunity for some search and content processing vendors and more head aches for others. Enterprise publishing systems may be a faster path to revenue than fuzzier services such as business intelligence. Your view? Just bring some facts to the table says the addled goose.
Stephen Arnold, November 23, 2008
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