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The Digital Mindset Blog

HP to acquire Exstream Software

Published 22 January 2008, 09:05 PM

Phew, what a busy few weeks!! We announced this morning that we were acquiring Exstream Software, a privately-held provider of enterprise software that streamlines the creation and delivery of personalized documents and other communication materials.

This acquisition is a great proof point of our Print 2.0 strategy and positions us as a leader in the fast growing document automation and variable data publishing market. Think about the transformation, which enables users to design, create and distribute highly customized documents intended for an “audience of one,” based on business rules and flexible content such as information about a specific customer or product. Think about documents including rich media (audio, video) published on print, online and mobile platforms.

That’s a mouthful, but a couple of examples in action are: a retailer could run a promotion where customers receive a sales circular that is tailored to them, based on their purchase history and frequency of visits to the store. Or, a financial institution could create and deliver sophisticated statements, reports, and other fully customized one-to-one communications that clarify investment performance, encourage financial planning, and reflect the complete client relationship. And that’s just the beginning….

Craig Le Clair over at Forrester has a great blog post today: “In October of last year, I published "Give DOM its Due" and argued that for years, document output management (DOM) had been pegged as a back-office operation that produces customer statements and bills. And that now, customer experience demands will thrust DOM into a major software category supporting the growing and diverse content that enterprises must assemble and deliver to customers.”

Blogging from my hotel room in Lexington, KY. It’s cold and snowing outside……

Posted By Eric Kintz | 2 Comments | Trackbacks | Permalink
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Comments

Eric, thanks for sharing this with us. That is great news, that finally the large vendors are admitting that there is life in PRINT and it is not all just Web. And even 2.0 for both! Obviously I am prejudiced as a competitor to Exstream but all in all it is good for the market. I know that HP does NOT OVERSTATE its capabilities. So be careful not to simply copy Exstream's marketing materials, you would be in for a surprise when it comes to deliver these solutions to your customers. I am truly glad this has finally happened! HP has a great record of sticking to facts and avoiding Oracle-like sweeping claims. The IT industry seriously needs less hype and buzzwords and more down to earth, working solutions. As for the Forrester DOM report: How many software buyers are aware that vendors have to pay to be on a report? We didn't and were excluded - despite being the leading technology and the largest globally. Not a large US presence, I admit too. Hmm, a little bit of 'sour grapes' there, but then I am human and I do care about what I do. It is disappointing that these reports are taken as objective when they certainly are not. I am glad that Rich finally succeeded. In difference to me, Rich Troska announced years ago that his goal was to grow at all cost and then sell out. Congratulations, Rich!
# Wednesday, January 23, 2008 02:48 PM by mjpucher
Interesting commentary on the Exstream Software acquisition from Jim Lyons of Lyra. Check it out at http://jimlyonsobservations.blogspot.com/ Jim used to work for HP and I like his point of view on what's going on in the company nowadays.
# Thursday, January 24, 2008 10:29 PM by gravesal

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