Dow Corning installed its content management system in 1996, using the software to manage everything from project documentation to material safety data sheets to technical reports. It also used the Documentum-supplied system for some light collaboration, such as document sharing, within the company.

Two years ago, the silicon manufacturer realized it needed a way to share information and work with partners, suppliers and customers outside its corporate network. It deployed eRoom Technology's collaboration software.

Then it realized it would make sense to hook together the two systems.

"From time to time, we talked about how to pull documents out of Documentum and get them into an eRoom, and after an eRoom session how to move that documentation back," says Ann Marie Horcher, senior architect for document management at Dow Corning in Midland, Mich. "But there is nothing automated there. It's two products in a state of nonintegration."

But not for much longer. In September, Documentum announced an agreement to acquire eRoom and tightly integrate the company's real-time collaboration capabilities into its enterprise content management system. The announcement came just months after Documentum laid out plans to enhance collaboration within its native product, signaling a focus on collaboration as a key feature.

Analysts say collaboration is an important piece of a bigger content management picture that knowledge management and portal vendors are looking at as they try to address the changing needs of businesses searching for a more cohesive way to get the most out of their growing amounts of digital data.

Content management companies such as Interwoven, Documentum, Stellent and Vignette provide the framework companies need to manage digital information by applying categorization and workflow processes to existing content. A big focus is on managing how content is published on Web sites, an area where collaboration has long been important. But content management vendors are now starting to look at ad hoc collaboration capabilities, where users can manage information during the content creation process, using virtual whiteboards, threaded discussions and instant messaging, for example.

"There is an increasing drive to help employees get more done online," says Nate Root, an analyst at Forrester Research. "Instead of just looking at documents, instead of just finding information they need, there is the drive to use quick, always-on collaboration channels."