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In recent times, IBM has made something of a habit of buying up key software partners, a tactic that has given it control of technologies as their popularity soars. In March it picked up Ascential for $1.1 billion to give it a leadership position in the fast-growing data integration software market, and in June it grabbed a larger share of the $1 billion IT asset management sector with the takeover of Isogon for an undisclosed sum. IBM's latest target, PureEdge Solutions, may not be the largest it has undertaken but it gives the company a technology that has become essential for automating many key business processes - electronic forms (e-forms).

PureEdge, a 70 employee privately-held company headquartered in Canada, has previously worked closely with IBM to integrate its XML-based e-forms software with the technology giant's middleware portfolio including its WebSphere Portal and DB2 Content Manager. The aim is to extend that integration to tightly couple PureEdge with the Lotus Domino and IBM Workplace team-working environments.

Behind these moves is an appreciation by IBM strategists that intelligent forms technology is set to play a pivotal role in the automation of many business processes. Indeed, of the 37 vertical industries that IBM has identified as targets for specially tailored versions of its middleware, where it can speed business process automation, 29 will rely on electronic forms. "E-forms are becoming one of the key currencies for information exchange," says Ambuj Goyal, general manager of IBM's Lotus software division.

The capacity for e-forms to help automate business processes is highlighted by the agreement signed between IBM and the US Army. In a phased adoption, US Army will automate all of its form-based processes, from payroll to procurement. Ultimately, its 1.5 million users will have access to 100,000 e-forms covering all current business processes. The potential is also recognised by analyst group Gartner. It predicts that over the next two years, use of XML-based e-forms will double within the enterprise. Within five years, it estimates a quarter of all businesses will be using the technology.

That take-up is not going unrecognised by rivals, including Microsoft and Adobe. Microsoft has taken its own approach to e-forms, encouraging customers to build relatively simple forms using its SharePoint software and more complex business forms using InfoPath.

Meanwhile, Adobe is already well positioned in the e-forms market. It has a number of blue chip customers who have bought into its vision of the 'intelligent document', including Lloyds TSB and AstraZeneca. And its Adobe Reader software is an everyday part of most users' Internet browsing experience.

But according to IBM's Goyal, such rivals are trying to trap users into proprietary systems, warning that without open standards, electronic forms could create integration headaches with other electronic documents. "[Some] vendors are trying to control this currency of exchange," he says. PureEdge and IBM have both been strong supporters of the xForms standard being defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).