Content Management Meets Business-Process ManagementContent Management Meets Business-Process Management

Unisys Corp. on Wednesday cut a deal with Q-Link Technologies Inc. to incorporate Q-Link's business-process management platform into upcoming versions of its content-management software.

The Q-Link platform "is a mechanism by which turning business requirements into actual code is simplified," says Q-Link CEO Steve Horwitz. The platform lets designers visually assemble Java 2 Enterprise Edition applications based on existing workflows and business constructs.

The technology will let Unisys apps feature better integration to other programs, streamline media production, and facilitate collaboration, says Unisys Media Group chief architect Robert Tilley.

Current versions of Unisys' Hermes content manager, used by more than 200 newspapers and magazines worldwide, don't feature as much integration as users would like, Tilley says, so Unisys is planning to redesign the software using Q-Link's process-oriented development platform. The result, says Tilley, will be software that's preconfigured to integrate with everything from CRM applications from companies such as PeopleSoft Inc. to desktop publishing apps from Quark Inc.

In April, Unisys will release its first program incorporating the technology, an update of its Hermes application with built-in XML integration to third-party software from Quark and Adobe Systems Inc. Within 12 months, Unisys will have rebuilt its applications, releasing a new Global Media Ensemble that's designed to provide flexible, real-time access to information regardless of its location within the enterprise.