The word from EMC's Momentum conference in Monaco (Monaco! someone tell me, why didn't I go) is that Documentum is now a platform that supports business applications that increase efficiency in areas that are collaborative, trans-active, interactive, or archiving related.

According to Balaji Yelamanchili, senior vice president and co-general manager of content management and archiving (how about getting a simpler title?) at EMC, the plan is to introduce four solution frameworks that consist of reusable templates that EMC partners and customers will use to develop applications on EMC's ECM platform.

The four frameworks are:

The interactive Content Management framework is a set of technologies used to deliver what EMC calls "compelling communications." The technologies manage the production process and content types when creating content-rich web pages that include features such as flash animation and streaming video, PowerPoint presentations with audio clips and static images, or page layouts that facilitate the multi-channel collateral rendering.

The Transactional Content Management Solution Framework focuses on operational business tasks such as loan and claims processing, invoicing, contract management and so on.

The "Knowledge Worker" Framework focuses on applications such as product development, collaborative case management and client engagement.

The E-mail and Compliance Framework focuses on e-mail, legal review, and corporate governance applications.

Who does EMC expect to leverage these frameworks? "This will be a partner-powered initiative," Yelamanchilli told the press. "We'll be leveraging our rich and deep partner network to build these Solution Frameworks for specific sets of business-related content management problems."

Partner, partner, partner. That was another topic at the conference. These frameworks (or templates, as they're being called in the press) are intended to strengthen EMC's "new and improved" partner sales strategy which is being called the "content-enabled solutions strategy". The idea is that Documentum aka EMC Software will partner with its partners in going to market with well integrated, end-to-end solutions that have earned the "Designed for EMC" designation.

Just like GxPharma, right? It was "Designed for Documentum".

Sorry, but I had to say it, and now that I have, I should mention that there have been some successes. take...FirstDocs, but FCG's ECM strategy doesn't seem to be as Documentum-dependent as it used to be.

There's also Bluefish's DIXI. I've never heard anyone say it doesn't work. If the Bluefish/EMC relationship is what we're going to see more of, then okay, this could work.

BUT, EMC would have to recruit a world full of partners with the passion and talent of Bluefish's founder Mike Trafton, who seems to like writing software as much as he likes making money.

Which leads me to another subject... what is it that our most talented, most passionate developers want to do? Do they want to work for EMC Software solution providers? How does EMC pick its business partners, anyway? Are they stellar solution providers that EMC recruits? (Or does EMC buy the stellar providers?)

I'm not insinuating anything but if EMC's strategy is partner dependent, whether I'm a stockholder or customer, I would like to know.