Lava commits to KM
LAVA Systems has announced plans to unveil new products later in the year, in an effort to position the company in the knowledge management space. The products LAVA Business Process Enabler and LAVA Knowledge Management System will enable knowledge workers to combine information from relational and object databases, proprietary document management systems and business applications. The products will be built on an n-tier architecture, with client services, application and information foundation layers. Users can choose a Microsoft Windows client or a platform-independent web browser based interface. The application layer offers plug-in modules for text search, workflows, encryption, load balancing and the ability to search multiple information sources simultaneously. The information foundation layer manages access to information repositories, including enterprise applications (SAP, Oracle, J.D. Edwards), document management systems, ODBC databases, COLD, and messaging platforms like Lotus Notes and Microsoft Exchange. The products, due out in Q3 '98, ''will provide a quantum leap for enterprises frustrated by the lack of industry-specific solutions that take advantage of their existing technology investments,'' according to LAVA CEO Peter Hamilton. Doculabs analyst Jennifer Harty added that the system ''offers strong business process enablement tools that integrate with line-of-business applications, back-office tools and front office applications. The result is "an integrated system that ties applications into a knowledge management strategy.''