OpenText acquires BPM vendor Metastorm

I can hardly believe it (joking) but OpenText has acquired yet another technology company (first picked up by my colleague Irina yesterday).  This time around it is US-based BPM (Business Process Management) firm Metastorm.

True Business Process Management has long been something of a weak spot for OpenText in what is a huge portfolio of content related technology, as we detail in our technology evaluation research. Indeed the real surprise here is that OpenText had not bought a pure-play BPM earlier.

The need for true BPM, rather than document-centric workflow, is critical for many enterprises today, and this gap has impacted OpenText. And it seems they have bought wisely, as Metastorm is one of the better known, and better respected names in the BPM market.

That said, Metastorm now comprises yet one more element to integrate into the OpenText panoply of products.  In fact, with so very many acquired elements at OpenText, buyers should ask whether one more piece added to the melting pot really adds more value.

Other ECM & Cloud File Sharing posts

ECM Standards in Perspective

In real life I don't see ECM standards proving particularly meaningful, and you should see them as a relative benefit rather than absolute must-have.