InformationWeek

January 12, 1998

FileNet Sums Up Its Parts

Product realignment integrates features

ileNet Corp., a leading vendor of document-management software, will unveil next week a consolidation of its products under the name Panagon. The realignment features a makeover of the product line's user interface and integration of previously separate technologies.

Many customers have been confused during the last year as the company tried to digest the products of three acquired companies, says FileNet president Lee Roberts. The company will consolidate 300 products, some of which had retained their names from previous vendors, into 50 Panagon-branded products. FileNet will still support products to be replaced by Panagon offerings, Roberts says.

The Panagon line will feature a server technology that unifies previously separate engines for imaging and document storage . Roberts says the integrated server, to be available toward year's end, is loosely tied to Microsoft's release of Windows NT 5.0-but that the server could be released without it if NT is delayed.

Minimal Training
Panagon IDM Desktop, to be available early next month, will feature nearly identical Windows and browser clients. The Windows interface is modeled after Windows Explorer to minimize training requirements.

"Users who know how to work Explorer can use the FileNet Neighborhood as easily as their own hard disk or Network Neighborhood," says Tod DeBie, Pana- gon senior product specialist. Both allow folders to hold both documents stored in the imaging repository and file repository, integrating in the user interface what was previously discrete.

"The Panagon moves are significant to intranet-based document management because they make possible a lot of applications involving E-billing, E-payment, and other forms of E-commerce," says Martin Marshall, an analyst with Zona Researc h. "What FileNet is doing with Net technology is practical, not just zoomy multimedia dancing bears."

The company will also announce support centers in Europe and Asia so it can provide round-the-clock support for global companies.

Next month, FileNet will establish a division to build application frameworks for third parties to customize. That group will also customize its products directly for customers in industries for which FileNet's partners don't already develop.

FileNet plans to start shipping Panagon IDM Desktop in February, with prices ranging from $300 to $800 per user. The native client runs on 32-bit Windows. The Web clients run under popular browsers and make heavy use of ActiveX and Active Server Page technology. The current server runs on Windows NT, HP-UX, AIX, and Solaris.

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