Information Mapping, Inc. announced that it will be releasing a major upgrade to Formatting Solutions Pro (FS Pro) and Formatting Solutions XML (FS XML) on January 15, 2004. Version 2.0 of both products contains new features and is built on an architecture that will more easily support customizations and lessen the product’s dependency on Microsoft Windows in future releases. FS XML 2.0 has, in addition to all the same features and functionality as FS Pro 2.0, an XML output engine and XSL style sheets that allow users to create flexible structured content from Microsoft Word and store it in an XML content repository or display it in a variety of ways. FS Pro 2.0 and FS XML 2.0 will be the first versions of the tool to work with Microsoft Word 2003. FS Pro and FS XML are available only to Information Mapping seminar graduates. Information Mapping is now accepting orders for both products and is offering a 10% discount off orders received before January 15. The suggested list price of FS Pro 2.0 is $199 and the upgrade price for current FS Pro users is $75. The suggested list price of FS XML 2.0 is $395 and the upgrade price for current FS XML users is $75. FS Pro users can upgrade to FS XML 2.0 for $150. www.infomap.com

RenderX, Inc. and X-Hive Corporation announced they have established a strategic initiative focused on technology to deliver a comprehensive solution for the management of XML content and high quality print output of that content. The joint solution enables organizations to shift from SGML content to XML structures. X-Hive will embed RenderX XEP software into their Docato software. X-Hive/Docato is an XML-based content management system designed specifically for technical documentation for the management of technical content in a distributed work environment. RenderX XEP was designed to allow developers and end users to dynamically apply sophisticated styles to XML documents and to publish those documents to different platforms. By aligning these solutions together, X-Hive and RenderX provide an e-business solution for creating PDF, PostScript, and other dynamic document packages from XML content stored in X-Hive databases without the need for users to understand the complexities of XML and XSL FO. www.x-hive.com, www.renderx.com

Yozons Inc. has released its 3.3 version of its Signed & Secured web-based business private network software and service. New features in Signed & Secured include more advanced administration capabilities, a performance dashboard, templated messages for repeatedly sending out similar types of contracts or document packages, enhanced customer branding, as well as upgraded its Experian credit-based authentication module which is now offered on a pay-as-you-use model on the hosted web service. Version 3.3 is available immediately. It can be deployed behind a customer’s firewall, as a managed service or as a hosted web service. The licensed technology is available in an Office Edition for smaller volume customers, as a hardware appliance for those who need more customization without volume restrictions, and as an enterprise license for high volume and tightly integrated deployments. www.yozons.com

Microsoft Corp. unveiled pricing and packaging details for its forthcoming release of BizTalk Server 2004. BizTalk Server 2004 will deliver enhanced business process orchestration functionality, new business activity monitoring (BAM) and human-based workflow capabilities, and a new scalable rules engine. In addition, the new BizTalk Server 2004 license will include copies of Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 and Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003. BizTalk Server 2004 will enable Standard Edition and Partner Edition customers to connect to more applications and trading partners than in previous versions of the product and will be localized in nine languages, five more than in BizTalk Server 2002. Current BizTalk Server customers with Software Assurance will receive a license for BizTalk Server 2004. BizTalk Server 2004 will be offered in four editions: Enterprise, Standard, Partner and Developer. The pricing for these editions is on par with the 2002 version, with ERP Open B pricing starting at $25,000 CPU for the Enterprise Edition, $7,000 CPU for the Standard Edition, $1,000 CPU for the Partner Edition and $750 per user for the Developer Edition, which can be used for development and testing purposes only. The availability of BizTalk Server 2004 has not yet been announced. www.microsoft.com

Isite Services, Inc. announced the immediate availability of Control!, a web content management system designed specifically for web designers.
Isite’s Control! allows content changes without losing control of the layout. This inexpensive product enables content editors to change text, add pictures or add new pages without knowing anything about HTML or page layout. Web designers retain control over the site layout, and can authorize users for a few pages or allow them to restructure major portions of the site. Templates and global parameters ensure design consistency throughout the site. Isite’s Control! does not require software installation; it is controlled entirely through the browser. The interface allows authors to focus on content rather than on complicated procedures. Control! starts as low as $5.95 per month. www.isite.net

IBM announced it has acquired Green Pasture Software, Inc., a privately held provider of document management software based in Corvallis, Oregon. Financial details were not disclosed. Green Pasture’s operations will be integrated into IBM’s Enterprise Content Management business and Green Pasture products will be available immediately from IBM. This is IBM’s third acquisition in its Enterprise Content Management business since 2002. IBM purchased Tarian’s records management software in November 2002 and Aptrix’s Web content management software in July 2003. Green Pasture Software enables businesses to take advantage of real-time, high-performance document management capabilities to electronically collaborate, edit and manage multiple documents simultaneously. The software helps organizations more easily develop and manage documents that incorporate interrelated parts, such as spreadsheets, multimedia files and computer aided design (CAD) references. www.software.ibm.com/data

Percussion Software announced that it has formed a partnership with Convera. The partnership is initially focused on utilizing Convera’s RetrievalWare search technology for the content delivery environments based on Percussion’s Rhythmyx 5 Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system and the newly announced Rhythmyx Express Portal. The Convera RetrievalWare search engine will search content delivered by Rhythmyx 5 to any delivery repository, including Percussion’s Rhythmyx Express Portal or any other portal. Working in these content delivery environments, RetrievalWare will provide advanced search capabilities in the simplest to the most complex aggregation of delivery channels, scaling as required to meet an organization’s needs. www.convera.com, www.percussion.com

EMC Corporation announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire VMware, Inc. in a cash transaction valued at approximately $635 million. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, and is expected to be completed early in the first quarter of 2004.
The acquisition of VMware will help customers deploy virtualization technologies across their heterogeneous IT infrastructure to create a single pool of available storage and computing resources. This “Virtual Information Infrastructure” will enable organizations to dynamically configure and reconfigure their compute and storage environments. EMC expects to take a charge of approximately $15 to $20 million in the first quarter of 2004 for the value of VMware’s in-process research and development costs and other integration expenses. EMC plans to operate VMware as a software subsidiary of EMC, headquartered in Palo Alto and led by Diane Greene, VMware’s current President and CEO. VMware will remain focused on developing, selling and servicing VMware’s products and solutions. www.vmware.com, www.EMC.com