IBM snaps up web content software firm

NEWS IBM has agreed to acquire Aptrix, a maker of web content management software, in a move to bulk up its Lotus Web development portfolio. Big Blue on Tuesday said it hoped its buyout of the Australian company would help it address growing customer demand for products that combine portal, collaboration and content technology in one package. An IBM representative said that Aptrix has been an IBM Lotus business partner and that it has built its product around IBM's Domino. IBM is taking that existing product and re-branding it as Lotus Workplace Content Development and making it available immediately. Aptrix's operations in London and Massachusetts become part of IBM Software Group's Lotus business unit. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The new capabilities will provide IBM customers a way to create, publish, manage and archive web-based content within a corporate intranet, extranet and internet environment. Aptrix technology was designed to work with current Lotus Domino, WebSphere and DB2 Content Manager environments.