Contact: Brenon Daly
In its first-ever acquisition, Alfresco Software has reached for an existing partner, WeWebU Software. The purchase of the 13-year-old German startup adds more management capabilities – specifically, a roles-based, configuration application framework – on top of Alfresco’s core ECM platform. In addition to customization, WeWebU should also enhance the mobile offering at Alfresco with its iOS-focused MobileWorkdesk front end.
The purchase comes as the open source company transitions from a founder-led, relatively low-profile business to one that’s eyeing the public market, at least down the road. As part of that change, just two weeks ago Alfresco appointed Doug Dennerline to the top job at the company.
A SaaS-veteran, Dennerline joins Alfresco as it finds itself competing on a new front. In addition to established ECM rivals such as EMC (Documentum), OpenText and, of course, Microsoft’s SharePoint, Alfresco is increasingly bumping into newer cloud-based startups, notably Dropbox and Box.
To combat that, Alfresco has shored up its platform with increased security and compliance to appeal to IT departments, as well as added a cloud offering of its own. Additionally, it has stressed that ECM is part of a larger business process – a function that should be made easier now with the addition of WeWebU’s configuration technology.
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