Enterprise document sharing

IBM stepped up its assault on the desktop software market with the introduction of new bundles of its Workplace software that are designed for medium-size businesses and for specific industries. IBM's Workplace initiative is the company's plan to garner a larger share of the money spent by businesses on end-user productivity software--a market dominated by Microsoft's Office suite. The ***

IBM plans to add connections to its DB2 database software and a myriad of time-saving tools to the next update of its Lotus Notes and Domino e-mail software for businesses. Big Blue recently shipped a second release, version 7, of Lotus Notes/Domino and plans to have the final release ready in the first half of next year. The upgrade introduces a new policy of updating all major components of the Notes and Domino family--server software, development tools and the client--and of reducing integration hassles for IT administrators. Notes' origin dates back to the 1980s. The product was one of the first so-called groupware software packages on the market to combine e-mail, group discussions and document sharing. ***

Adobe Systems announced Friday that it has made a $72 million offer to acquire Accelio, a small Canadian software maker that has become the subject of a bidding war. Accelio specializes in server software for routing and storing data submitted by people filling out electronic forms. Adobe executives said the company's products would help extend its Acrobat line, already the leading format for creating and sharing online documents. "What Accelio brings to Adobe are products that support companies that use Acrobat for designing forms," said Shantanu Narayen, executive vice president of worldwide products for Adobe. "This is just a natural extension...of our network publishing vision." Adobe's offer follows an earlier bid by Open Text, a larger Canadian software maker specializing in networking and content collaboration tools. ***