Software market continues consolidation.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: UP FRONT - International Business Machines Corp. - Microsoft Corp. - Oracle Corp. - Brief article

Large computer companies continue to buy up software makers, shaping the future of the vendor environment for records and information management products.

This year alone, dozens of business software manufacturers have been purchased by the likes of EMC, IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle, in an attempt by the giants to gain a solid competitive footing in the content management and compliance marketplace.

For example, in August, IBM announced it would acquire document management and content management software maker FileNet for $1.6 billion in cash. IBM said it will integrate FileNet's products--which help businesses manage and use customer information--with its own content management software, as well as combine FileNet's content management software with its business process management tools for automating complex business workflows.

Specifically, FileNet...