Plumtree Bets On Multiserver Tools

As companies integrate portal, content-management, and collaboration tools, Plumtree Software Inc. is expanding its roots with a new software suite. In addition to rolling out the second version of a collaboration server it debuted earlier this year, Plumtree last week unveiled a portal-content server, a search server, and an identity-management server that includes authentication and authorization features from Oblix Inc. It also plans to release a business-process and workflow server next year.

Alcoa Inc. is preparing to launch an employee portal during the first quarter of 2003 built on Plumtree technology. The maker of aluminum products with $22.9 billion in annual sales has more than 1,000 largely unconnected intranets, resulting in rampant duplication, says Mark Husnick, program director for Alcoa's enterprise portal. Alcoa is testing Plumtree's portal and collaboration servers. It's also evaluating Plumtree's other new products but isn't in a hurry to replace its Verity search engine or Microsoft content-management server. "We'll see if it's enough to warrant a change," Husnick says. "You don't want to spend dollars twice."

Product suites are attractive to small and midsize companies, which aren't Plumtree's bread and butter, Delphi Group analyst Hadley Reynolds says. But Plumtree chose to diversify, says co-founder and VP Glenn Kelman, because of feedback from customers such as Duke Energy, Pratt & Whitney, and Procter & Gamble.