Endeca announced a new exclusive partnership with IBM to bring the next-generation capabilities of Endeca’s Guided Navigation to IBM DB2 Information Integrator customers. According to the terms of the deal, IBM will offer Endeca’s software to customers seeking the ability to integrate search and navigation capabilities for improved usability and access to disparate enterprise content. The integrated solution will be offered as a key, premium component to IBM’s recently unveiled DB2 Information Integrator (DB2 II) OmniFind Edition, formerly code named Masala. IBM’s DB2 Information Integrator (DB2 II) OmniFind Edition, announced in late September 2004, provides enterprise search middleware for powering intranets, extranets, and corporate public web sites. Endeca’s Guided Navigation leverages characteristics of data to categorize results and present valid refinement and exploration options in the form of navigational links. This next-generation functionality can be used to organize and refine long lists of search results or can be used as a stand-alone querying mechanism to help users find relevant content with a few simple clicks of the mouse. Endeca is an IBM Advanced Business Partner and is a preferred provider for IBM’s WebSphere Commerce Group – Endeca is the Advanced Search and Guided Navigation option for WebSphere Commerce. www.endeca.com

Liquid Machines announced Liquid Machines Document Control Version 3.0. Liquid Machines Document Control allows enterprises to centrally create and enforce document access and usage policies for any content within native applications including Microsoft Office, Visio, and Adobe Acrobat. Version 3.0 delivers scalability, performance, and usability enhancements that support large-scale deployments and make it easier for organizations to share confidential information across the extended enterprise. Liquid Machines Document Control 3.0’s enterprise features include support for Microsoft’s Business Intelligence Accelerators which provide users with increased access to data that is critical to maximizing business performance. Liquid Machines Document Control 3.0 automatically assigns corporate-defined usage policies to customized business intelligence reports created using Microsoft’s Excel Add-in for SQL Server Analysis Services. www.liquidmachines.com

SilkRoad Technology, Inc. announced the availability of Eprise Docs, a document management system fully integrated with Eprise 2004, SilkRoad’s content management system. Eprise Docs enables organizations to manage the flow of documents and information throughout the enterprise and to the Web. Eprise Docs exposes Eprise’s core library services, including check-in, check-out, version control, roll-back, meta-data management and workflow, through an extension to Windows Explorer that exposes a remote document tree along with a custom toolbar to activate functions. A full Web interface for adding, browsing, retrieving and sharing documents is available for remote access. Eprise Docs’ roles-based security system is fully integrated with Eprise 2004, enabling businesses to distribute permissions through recursive role delegation. Eprise supports its own native security and can also be integrated with user directories such as NTLM, ADS, and LDAP. Users can even use single sign on (SSO) through NTLM or third party SSO applications. Within Eprise Docs, users can apply rules for data added to folders. For example, a folder may be restricted to allow only image files. Further, when a document is dropped into a folder, events may be triggered. These events include prompting a user to enter meta-data, notifying users of the document or starting a workflow process. Eprise Docs enables both the consumption of Web services and exposes Eprise Docs functionality as callable Web services. www.silkroadtech.com

Hot Banana Software Inc. announced the integration of WebTrends Web analytics solutions with Hot Banana’s Web CMS. The integration is designed to assist Hot Banana’s mid-sized clients to easily adopt Web analytics to accelerate their business results. With this integration, Hot Banana clients can set up WebTrends solution’s content groups, campaigns and conversion scenarios from within the Hot Banana interface. As a result, clients will be able to determine which campaigns are driving the best results; understand which areas of the site require improvement, and which are of most interest; and evaluate how to best optimize Web site conversion scenarios to increase the number of visitors fulfilling their business goals. Hot Banana’s customer Web sites can be analyzed with WebTrends 7, which utilizes data collection technology called WebTrends SmartSource, based on page tagging. By integrating WebTrends SmartSource with Hot Banana’s Web CMS, customers can automate the process of tagging and testing Web pages for analysis using the Hot Banana interface to minimize hand-coded errors and ensure that their sites are properly coded for collecting Web traffic and visitor behavioral data. www.hotbanana.com, www.webtrends.com

The Gilbane Report and Lighthouse Seminars announced record numbers of conference attendees and visitors to the technology demonstrations at the Gilbane Conference on Content Management Technology held last week at the Westin Copley in Boston, MA. Also announced were the dates and venues for three Gilbane events to be held in 2005: San Francisco at the Sheraton Palace April 11-13, Amsterdam at the RAI Centre, May 25-27 (co-located with XTech 2005), and Boston at the Westin Copley Nov. 29 – Dec.1. Sponsors of the Gilbane Content Management conference in Boston included EMC (NYSE:EMC), GMC Software, Interwoven (NASDAQ:IWOV), Open Text (NASDAQ:OTEX), Stellent (NASDAQ:STEL), and Workshare. Other sponsors include Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL), the Integration Consortium, OASIS, IDEAlliance, InfoWorld, CMSWatch, EContent magazine, Transform magazine, Web Services Journal, XML Journal, Business Wire, and the Gilbane Report. Additional exhibitors-to-date include Arbortext, Artesia, Astoria, Atomz, aXtive minds, ClearStory Systems (OTCBB: CSYS), Context Media, CrownPeak Technology, Day Software, EG07, Ektron, FAST, FatWire, GlobalSight, Hot Banana, IBM (NYSE:IBM), Idiom, Infodata, Information Mapping, Infostoria, Inmagic, IXIAsoft, Mark Logic, Mediasurface, Ovitas, Percussion Software, PaperThin, Quark, RedDot Solutions, Refresh Software, SchemaLogic, Scientific Software, SDI, Serena, SiberLogic, SilkRoad Technology, Software AG (TECdax:SOW), ThomasTech Solutions, Translations.com, Vasont, Vignette (NASDAQ:VIGN), and Vivisimo. See the full release with quotes from attendees and exhibitors at www.gilbane.com/gr_news_12.13.04.html, www.gilbane.com/conferences/overview.html, www.lighthouseseminars.com

Verity Inc. announced the establishment of Verity Italy, a wholly-owned subsidiary that will be based in Milan. The opening of the Milan facility marks an expansion of Verity’s operations in Europe, which includes in-country presence in the Benelux, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. Verity Italy will sell Verity K2 Enterprise advanced search, classification and recommendation software as well as add-on capabilities such as Verity Collaborative Classifier and Verity Extractor. The company’s existing resellers and partners will continue to sell Verity K2 Enterprise and Verity Ultraseek enterprise search engine, as well as the company’s content capture and process automation products: Verity TeleForm and Verity LiquidOffice. www.verity.com

Senior Editor Bill Trippe looks at the case for the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) in “Topic-Oriented Information Development and Its Role in Globalization.” Sponsored by Idiom, Inc. www.gilbane.com/whitepapers.html

Mediasurface has unveiled the latest version of its Enterprise Content Management system Mediasurface 5.1. The new version contains features designed to improve the way businesses manage and control their websites. It gives non-technical users more power to produce websites and the IT department facilities they need to run a web application. Morello, Mediasurface’s Smart Client application, has been enhanced to facilitate better collaboration, off-line working and has a more intuitive look and feel, with visual workflow, drag and drop, copy and paste and undo functionality. The workgroup collaboration features of Mediasurface 5.1 follow the principles of standard instant messaging services, but are enhanced to bring teams working on web projects closer together. In addition to the ability to send and receive messages in real-time, Mediasurface 5.1 allows pages, links and other items to be dragged & dropped into the message pane, so that a dispersed team can simultaneously view and comment on aspects of the site they are building. Users get instant notification of workflow-related matters, such as completed work that needs their approval. www.mediasurface.com