Plumtree Deepens Its RootsPlumtree Deepens Its Roots

Plumtree Software Inc. wants to be more things to more people. To make its technology more attractive to a wider array of potential customers, the portal vendor is talking up a slew of new and updated products and a reformed strategy geared to address the growing role portals are playing within companies. The announcements come a month after the vendor rejected an unsolicited buyout offer from Sutter Capital Management.

In addition to rolling out the second version of a collaboration server it debuted earlier this year, Plumtree is unveiling portal-content and search servers, as well as an identity-management server that includes authentication and authorization features from partner Oblix Inc. Plumtree says it plans to release a business-process and workflow server, code-named Fusion and based on technology from its June acquisition of Oak Grove Systems, sometime next year.

The value of portals is expanding to encompass content management and collaboration, Delphi Group analyst Hadley Reynolds says. But while many companies are focused on avoiding integration challenges, product packages may not prove to be the best approach, Reynolds says. Bundles are typically more attractive to small and midsize companies, which haven't been Plumtree's bread and butter. "Plumtree is risking being viewed as the Swiss army knife of portals," he says.

But Glenn Kelman, Plumtree's co-founder and VP, says the company chose to diversify based on feedback from customers such as Procter & Gamble, Pratt & Whitney, and Duke Energy. Plumtree is promoting what it calls the "enterprise Web," an emerging Web-based operating system that companies use to let employees access applications and services. To bring that operating system to life, Kelman says, customers are linking their portals with content-management systems, collaboration apps, and identity-management tools. Plumtree wants to be in a position to supply an integrated package of all of those features.

The content, collaboration, search, and identity-management servers are in beta testing and will be generally available next month. A bundle that includes all of Plumtree's servers, including its flagship portal, will run $400 per user.