Adobe Unveils Document Process-Management AppsAdobe Unveils Document Process-Management Apps

Adobe Systems Inc. is making good on its strategy to develop a comprehensive set of enterprise document-management applications built on a common platform. The company on Tuesday unveiled new document process-management applications and software for managing document policies and security.

Adobe's LifeCycle document-management software lets users create and manage documents using data from multiple sources. The applications include Adobe Form Server, Adobe Form Manager, and Adobe Designer. The process-management applications are available now priced starting at $100,000 for the bundle.

The new document-control and security applications control who can access documents and when. Adobe Document Security Server lets administrators encrypt documents stored on a server. Adobe Policy Server embeds code in PDF documents that check for policy changes before they can be opened, such as when documents are superceded by updated documents or if a person is allowed to see a document only for a limited time period. Meta Group analyst Tim Hinkernell says that's significant because managing such policies today is a very manual, ineffective process.

Adobe Document Security Server is available now, priced starting at $50,000, while Adobe Policy Server will be available by the end of the year.

The new apps are built on the Adobe Intelligent Document Platform, a common server architecture based on Java 2 Enterprise Edition and XML that uses Adobe's Universal Client and PDF Intelligent Document applications as its user interface. Adobe developed the platform to integrate its new and existing applications, including software acquired from other vendors in recent years. The software runs on IBM's WebSphere application server and the JBoss open-source application server with support planned for BEA Systems Inc.'s WebLogic.