Two new additions to Adobe's LiveCycle Enterprise Suite find the company trying to get beyond its Photoshop and Flash rep.In a bid to increase its presence in the enterprise, Adobe announced this week two new additions to the LiveCycle Enterprise Suite, a Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition environment where companies can manage forms and the business processes surrounding them.
The new LiveCycle Production Print ES and LiveCycle Output ES are also Adobe's latest attempts to reduce paperwork at medium and large companies, a sticky issue because that not only requires the forms to be electronic, but also that the data be trackable and sortable by a back-end system.
Both apps show that Adobe still has its eye on hardcore business data management software, a market that many enterprises forget Adobe plays in.
Adobe designed Production Print ES to help deploy PDF documents in large quantities, such as e-statements from banks. The application is a collaboration with StreamServe, and it automates assembly, delivery and security for mass quantities of PDF documents via LiveCycle Designer and StreamServe Persuasion.
LiveCycle Output ES, on the other hand, is all about smaller quantities of documents, down to one-offs tailored to a single transaction or contract. It enables the creation of signable PDF forms from the desktop, and can assemble supporting documentation when the PDF requires it as part of the package.
Acrobat and PDF forms-handling have evolved over the years from an Acrobat plug-in to a dedicated app like LiveCycle Designer, and now Adobe's competing with companies like IBM and Microsoft for market share.
"I think we're getting there," said Mitch Nelson, Adobe director of LiveCycle operations. "Two years ago, we heard a lot of 'well yeah, you make Photoshop and I like Acrobat, but what are you doing in the enterprise space?' A lot of people know now we're in the enterprise space, and know why we're in the enterprise space."
Of course forms have traditionally been a hard sell. Microsoft, IBM, and other players that have plowed this furrow for years (ScanSoft to ActivePDF to FormRouter to PureEdge to Amgraf, etc.) and understand selling forms software can be tough at times. Forms aren't sexy, especially when comparing them to other "wow" gems in the Adobe crown like Photoshop and Flash.
Even so, some locales have actually legislated forms management software into use, so there's ample incentive to battle for the market. Governments and corporations alike use it as a weapon against deforestation, stuffed-to-the-gills landfills, and wasted efficiency concerns related filing, transporting and tracking all that paper.
Nelson hopes the new pieces announced June 26, as well as the reorganization of LiveCycle solutions into the ES line will help give PDF forms more sizzle. Making the product line into the sum of interlocking parts is a big step.
"It's something that begins to resemble a real platform."
Document Management 
