IBM Corp. launched a new WebSphere e-commerce
offering that allows media companies to sell and deliver digital assets via
the Internet.
WebSphere Commerce Suite for Digital Media, is designed to help media
companies streamline operations and generate new revenues by simplifying the
process of distributing digital media assets online, IBM
said.
Separately, Burlington, Mass.-based Open Market Inc. said it is teaming up
with IBM to offer a content-driven commerce solution for rapid deployment on
both B2C and B2B sites.
IBM said its new WebSphere offering consists of the software and services
necessary to create an e-commerce site for selling media assets, and
addresses digital rights management and protection.
The new offering is built on WebSphere Commerce Suite, IBM Content Manager
and IBM Electronic Media Management System and is packaged with consulting
services to help companies quickly establish an e-commerce site for digital
media.
“With WebSphere Commerce Suite for Digital Media, companies can dramatically
reduce the time it takes their customers to browse, select, purchase and
download digital media via the Web,” said Sandy Carter, vice president for
e-commerce at IBM.
IBM’s agreement with Open Market, meanwhile, basically combines Open Market’s
Content Server Enterprise Edition (CSEE) content management and delivery
software with IBM’s WebSphere Commerce Suite V5.1 to provide a solution that
runs natively on IBM’s Java2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) based WebSphere
Application Server.
Initial clients include W.L. Gore, makers of GORE-TEX fabric, travel firm
Pleasant Holidays
and catalog retailer Lillian Vernon.
“Our joint customers benefit from favorable price performance and cost of
ownership as well as ability to quickly launch robust e-business
initiatives,” said Harland LaVigne, president and CEO of Open Market.
The companies said the Open Market and IBM solution allows non-technical
business users to create and manage product data as well as supporting
content, with complete approval workflow and revision tracking. Users can
easily define relationships between product and associated content so that
they can be displayed in the same context on the Web site to drive sales.
Companies can also deliver content to and conduct transactions on multiple
devices,
including wireless phones, PDAs, e-mail and the Web.
