Software has been very, very good to EMC Corp., which earlier this year enjoyed a windfall from the initial public offering of its VMware Inc. division, and the company's more recent dealmaking underscores its plans to further strengthen its presence in the software sector.

On Thursday, Dec. 27, Hopkinton, Mass-based EMC said it would buy Document Sciences Corp. of Carlsbad, Calif., for $14.75 per share, or about $85 million. While small relative to EMC's $11.2 billion annual revenue, the deal is significant for further extending EMC's push into higher-margin software sectors. Like computer makers IBM Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co., which are increasingly focusing on software and services, EMC now sees the enhanced storage capabilities provided through software as a key growth area as hardware becomes increasingly commoditized.

"Years ago, this company had no presence in software," said James Ragan, an analyst with Crowell Weedon & Co. in Los Angeles. "It all came into the company by way of acquisitions. EMC's machines are so powerful that software is what manages all the content."

Ragan described EMC's acquisition strategy as one that generally focused on smaller companies that could fill specific gaps in its product offering.

Document Sciences makes a collection of software storage products loosely categorized as Transactional Content Management, or TCM software, which EMC said is especially effective in handling transaction-intensive documents and applications such as new account enrollment, wealth management and brokerage and claims processing. Its software helps companies automate the creation and delivery of highly personalized contracts.

EMC said the addition of Document Sciences software will help it offer more capabilities in an all-in-one integrated suite of products.

EMC's most successful acquisition by far was its 2004 purchase of Palo Alto, Calif.-based VMware, the pioneering maker of virtualization software that went public in August in one of the most successful IPOs of 2007. It has also made a series of smaller acquisitions that have steadily expanded its product suite and boosted its presence in software.

In October, EMC bought Berkeley Data Systems Inc., a Utah company that provides backup and recovery services that reside on desktops, laptops and remote office servers. In June it bought Verid Inc., which makes security authentication solutions. Terms of both those deals were not disclosed.