IBM, Vignette Add Heft to Alliance

Content management software provider Vignette Corp. and IBM have expanded their strategic alliance as both companies look for a bigger slice of a smaller enterprise IT pie.

As a result of their expanded relationship, IBM has dubbed Vignette its first “certified management business partner” for IBM’s latest enterprise product pitch called Dynamic Workplaces. The companies will be working together to offer clients integrated workplace collaboration technology, including online conferences, e-learning and instant messaging, just the market opportunities Vignette was eying when it acquired portal software maker Epicentric in October of this year.

The latest IBM/Vignette teaming, however, comes amid a sluggish market for signing new or add-on enterprise projects, including corporate portal projects, as corporations go easy on big spending decisions for now. The climate has tech companies teaming up to add more heft to their product/service offerings in an increasingly competitive market for IT dollars.

The pitch from Vignette and IBM is to bolster internal workplace efficiencies while helping clients jump past the competition with better use of communication tools.

As part of their expanded relationship, Vignette’s content management applications will be integrated into IBM’s technology “stack” that makes up the Dynamic Workplaces offering. The two said they would also integrate Vignette’s content management software with IBM’s own content management software during the current quarter.

The two have been working together on behalf of enterprise customers since the second half of 2000, when they first launched their strategic alliance. The relationship paired Vignette’s content management and delivery systems with IBM’s systems for storing content.

One of Vignette’s strategies amid the flat conditions for IT spending has been to offer portlets (portal building blocks) that make it easier for clients to launch internal portals quickly, and simplify their portal management within major content management systems such as Vignette’s V6 and the recently announced V7 products. Vignette and Sun Microsystems have also teamed up to pitch easier management products to customers within Sun’s portal framework.