IBM's and other companies' recent acquisitions in the content management market are meant to enable them to bolster support for enterprise content management, especially mission-critical information, says an analyst. Various factors influencing their decisions include stricter government regulations as to how and for how long various types of records have to be kept. The same policies and procedures that have been used for physical information have not been applied by many companies to digital information. FileNet is a target for acquisition, says a spokesman for the company, but FileNet is not encouraging such take-over activity. Content management is a great concern for many customers who are looking at emerging markets and their opportunities. Recent accounting scandals and new regulations meant to prevent reoccurrences are driving the need for new technology. IBM's acquisition of Green Pastures was Big Blues third in 12 months, and Interwoven also purchased MediaBin and iManage, while OpenText acquired Gauss and Ixos Software. EMC also purchased Documentum. Some believe pure-play content management companies will soon be directly competing with other technology companies, but FileNet Ken Fitzpatrick would prefer to see partnerships. He cites BrightStor emphasis on storage management, which contrasts with FileNets management of content, its creation, who created it, how it is archived and protected, wile also adding intelligence to the process. Microsoft's content management path is not yet fully defined, but Microsoft is adding enabling abilities to its infrastructure with Windows SharePoint Services, says an analyst.