Lava Systems Africa, an affinity partner of Canadian-based Open Text, and one of the companies within the Enterprise Content & Wireless (ECW) Group, today announced the availability of Open Text`s Artesia DAM, version 6.6, running on Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and Windows Server 2003. The release marks a significant milestone in the Open Text-Microsoft Corp relationship and supports last year`s announcement of a broadened alliance between the two companies.
Open Text developed the new solution to address growing customer demand for more sophisticated digital asset management (DAM) solutions that offered a high level of availability, performance and security, with a lower total cost of ownership (TCO).
Customer response has been strong as illustrated by several new customers who will implement Artesia DAM on SQL Server 2005, including NewLine Cinema, Interpublic Group (IPG), St Jude Medical and Hasbro. This initial wave of new customers deploying Artesia DAM, version 6.6, and SQL Server 2005 demonstrates both the ubiquitous nature of digital content; and Artesia and Microsoft`s reach across different industries: media and entertainment, advertising, and corporate marketing. Although the customer solutions vary, the need for sophisticated digital asset management remains the same.
"Digital media is having a profound impact on a wide variety of industries, including advertising, publishing, music, film and broadcast," commented Maria Martinez, Corporate Vice-President of the Communications Sector at Microsoft. "Microsoft technologies serve as the platform to help organisations in those industries manage the transition as painlessly as possible, both from an IT and business process perspective. Through its platform, Microsoft strives to provide the basis of innovation for companies with specific areas of expertise. Artesia`s success with its DAM solutions in collaboration with Microsoft technologies provides an excellent example of such innovation."
"TV, Web, cellphones, digital media players, in-store advertising - everywhere you turn, rich media is delivering the message," added Scott Bowen, President of Open Text`s Artesia Digital Media Group. "Digital content is not just in the hands of media companies and creative teams as it permeates all aspects of company operations, as we become more accustomed to receiving a variety of digital media types in a variety of ways. Because our customers` digital content is critical, and in many cases core to their businesses, we are thrilled to offer this new and powerful version of Artesia DAM on such a high availability, performance-oriented platform as Microsoft SQL Server 2005. Now customers have an even better solution to meet the new demands for managing digital content, while staying on budget."
The Artesia Digital Media Group helps customers address the growing competitive and regulatory pressures to improve the management of digital media content. Customers include Time Warner, Comcast, Whirlpool, Scholastic, DaimlerChrysler, Discovery Communications, DreamWorks, Electronic Arts, General Motors, HBO and the US Department of Defence.
For further information, please contact Ray Dalgarno, Lava Systems Africa: telephone (011) 675 3704, fax (011) 675 1021, e-mail rayd@lavasystems.co.za
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The Artesia Digital Media Group is a leader in enterprise digital asset management (DAM) solutions that help information-intensive companies more efficiently manage and deploy their rich digital media content. Open Text is a leading provider of enterprise content management (ECM) solutions that bring together people, processes and information in global organisations. Today, the company supports 20 million seats across 13 000 deployments in 114 countries and 12 languages worldwide.
Enterprise Content and Wireless (ECW)
ECW is the merged entity of Lava Systems Africa and Lava Systems Mobile (LSM).
The Lava Systems Africa (LSA) team originated in the late 1990s with the objective of becoming a premier supplier of enterprise systems based around knowledge management, document management, records management, image management, collaboration and workflow solutions. The emerging demands that were identified included government process re-engineering, supply chain co-ordination, customer relationship management, e-government and B2B processing. In support of these business aims the technology platforms chosen had to enjoy a proven global track record and adhere to open Internet architecture standards and developments. LSA is a South African-based company dedicated to the sales, marketing, support and consultancy founded upon the Livelink product suite from Open Text, a product that the staff have been involved with since 1998. LSA user base embraces customers from both the private and public sector and includes organisations such as Bateman Projects Limited, Alexander Forbes, the Gauteng Provincial Government and the National Social Security Fund of Uganda.
Lava Systems Mobile, a company focusing on the development of mobile applications and tools, was originally created in 2005 and later that year absorbed KeyTools, a well-established mobile applications software developer with international links.
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