printCafe vs. PrintTalk--Waging a PrintWar?

BY CAROLINE MILLER

In the realm of printing management systems, there's probably no hotter topic right now than printCafe and PrintTalk. The January 2000 announcement of the merger of nth degree software and Prograph to form printCafe, then the subsequent acquisitions of AHP, Hagen Systems, Logic Associates, M Data and Programmed Solutions left the industry confused, nervous and full of questions. That air of uncertainty was further fueled when, in June, the remaining MIS systems and 10 e-commerce companies announced the formation of the PrintTalk consortium. Both PrintTalk and printCafe made promises of seamless integration from the buyer to printer, but many in the industry remained skeptical.