On Tuesday, January 22nd, HP announced that they have acquired our #1 competitor which we view as yet another example of the continued market validation for document creation, management and delivery. In case you missed it, at the end of 2007, EMC acquired Document Sciences for $85m which clearly set the trend. The value of “transactional” document management is becoming a critical must have in many large organizations. “Transpromo”, as it is being referred to (Transactional Promotion), is the next area of growth that has evolved out of the output management or document management market.
Market leaders like StreamServe and Exstream have created a high growth niche around high volume printing and the ability to compose, manage and deliver content. 90% of all the content in virtually every company is a static, scanned image--its dead and it desperately needs to be brought to life. HP has decided they need to be in this space, but from a “printing” angle and for years, they have tried to figure out what to do with a technology they had called “Dazzle”. This was basically print spooling software guaranteeing delivery of a document to a printer. So now HP acquires Exstream to replace Dazzle and help drive the printing business even further.
HP is clearly shopping for software angles to drive hardware sales. That’s great for HP, but not customers. ERP, CRM and ECM vendors have been trying to extend the business process to utilize bills, invoices, packing slips, correspondence, or virtually any document for campaign and promotional purposes. Yet this should not require specific hardware or design tools. It should be open, best of breed, flexible and not aligned to the bottom of the tech food chain – the printer.
One would think companies that are directly associated with documents, content creation and output would be the first to the acquisition table. If I were Adobe, I’d be looking over my shoulder. First EMC buys a document composition product to integrate with its content (Documentum) and now HP loads the gun with Exstream to drive more composition, printing and ink. HP has been acquiring lots of creation tools. Sounds like what Adobe does (and better than anyone else in my opinion) to me.
In today’s highly competitive business environment, smart companies recognize the value of each and every customer and they are trying to demonstrate that value by providing personalized, highly relevant documents and by communicating with them down to the “audience of one” level. Organizations, across industries, believe in the power of 1-to-1 marketing and now so does EMC and HP. We believe it’s only a matter of time before other, more closely aligned vendors, will get in the game because their customers will demand it. But the real question is what’s taking so long?
StreamServe is a global leader in dynamic document composition, delivery, and
document management software solutions
for ERP and CRM systems.