This IDC study examines the problem of unified access to content and data from the point of view of the structured data vendors, including database management systems (DBMS), data integration and access, and other related technologies vendors. It details the problem of unifying access to content and data, with a brief overview of the differences between the two, and technologies that have been developed in DBMS and data integration products to address them. It also profiles a number of vendors that have developed technologies that can help solve this problem.

"Recent years have shown a dramatic rise in the development of technologies that provide unified access to content and structured data from within a structured data query context, as well as within proprietary unified methods of presenting information, schematically organized, in Web pages and reports," says Carl Olofson, research vice president covering Information Management and Data Integration Software. "The key technical issues involved in combining management and access of content and structured data, from a structured data perspective, are already fairly well understood, and most of the technologies to do so exist. The major problem is that they exist in disconnected pieces and need to be integrated into a single system for development, management, and access of unified views of structured data and content."